"I'm sure it's a good sign." Arthur stood before the great doors that towered over him, his arms crossed. "Look, there's only one sign that says to stay out and whatnot. If they really didn't want us coming in, they'd have put up at least a dozen more signs and such."

  Morning had come with a brilliant sunrise that bathed the area in warm golden light, yet the task that lay ahead rendered it gloomy and foreboding. The three were standing before a pair of great iron doors that towered over them, set against the rocky side of the Mountain; it was the first tomb they had come across, and judging by the lack of extensive weathering and rust on the metal doors, one of the last tombs built within the Mountain.

  Arthur missed the other two; without Rebecca's magic and Henry's skilled cooking, breakfast had been a dreary affair of cold, hard bread and dried berries. Diana's simple diet and Praetorus' scavenger nature didn't leave much room for additional choices, and so his stomach was forced to endure this spartan diet with great reluctance; even now, he could feel his belly rumble with displeasure, and he wasn't sure if it was the bread or the berries that were doing him in. For now though, he pushed it to the back of his mind as the trio pondered the lone warning sign posted to the side of the doors.

  "I still don't have a good feeling," Diana remarked with a shudder. "Desecrating a tomb goes against the Lady's teachings, not to mention my own."

  "We must," Praetorus insisted. "This is a minor noble's tomb. That means it is less likely to be booby trapped, yet still be connected to the tunnels under the mountain."

  "For once, my shady friend and I are in agreement." Arthur strode forth placed his hands against the doors, wincing as he felt the bitterly cold metal bite against his palms. "Praetorus, help me with this, will you?"

  The archer took his place beside Arthur, and together the two of them began pushing. Diana, armed with a shield and her mace, advanced forward cautiously between the pair as the doors slowly pushed open, the head of her weapon glowing slightly with magic as a makeshift torch.

  Morning light poured into the entryway, but inky darkness reigned supreme just a few steps further inside; even with the full light of the sun beating down outside, it couldn't penetrate the shadowy depths of the tomb they now found themselves standing in. However, what unnerved Arthur the most was the silence; merely a few feet into the tomb, he couldn't even hear the howling wind outside, the noise swallowed completely by the earth and stone.

  "Charming." Arthur's voice echoed as he unsheathed his sword, more so for himself rather than in the face of any present danger. "Really lives up to the saying 'silent as the grave.'"

  Diana whispered something, and the light from her mace brightened further, washing over the room; the darkness melted away and revealed its contents to the trio, who regarded the newly revealed scene with a mixture of shock and fear.

  "They're empty." Diana's voice wavered. "They're all empty."

  Rows and rows of stone sarcophagi lay before them, their lids tossed aside. Each and every one of them were indeed empty, devoid of any bones or remains of their occupants; Arthur gripped his sword more tightly, feeling his heart beat faster with every second he took the scene in.

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  "Could someone have been here before?" Praetorus asked, his bow at the ready. "Perhaps this tomb was pillaged beforehand."

  "Then they're lousy tomb raiders," Arthur said, gesturing to the piles of ancient treasures still stacked by the tomb's wall, covered in cobwebs. "That, or they must really love bone broth."

  Diana murmured a prayer to herself. "I fear something unholy is at work here. We mustn't dally."

  "You think?" Arthur steadied himself and took the lead, marching further into the cavernous tomb. Praetorus and Diana followed closely behind, their footsteps in near lockstep with Arthur's; Diana, he could clearly see was shaken, but Praetorus? The archer still maintained a stoic demeanor and face, but one tiny tell gave him away: his bow was quivering ever so slightly in his hands.

  So, he does feel fear after all. Arthur couldn't help but smirk to himself.

  The trio soon came to another set of great iron doors, but they had been opened; beyond them, a stone-bricked tunnel ran perpendicular to their position, running off into the darkness on either side. Diana's mace illuminated no more than twenty feet ahead, but it was plain enough that they were now within the tomb network.

  "So. Left or right?" Arthur turned to face his companions. "I've no coin on me, but my gut is leaning strongly to the left."

  Diana waved her mace in both directions; when it pointed towards the right, it began to pulse slightly.

  "The divination spell I cast detects the relic to the right." She cast a baleful look at the boys. "Care to accompany me?"

  Arthur sighed. "Alright, fine. Might as well stick together until we find the dragon."

  He crossed the threshold of the door and began to go right; just as he stepped foot into the tunnel, a low moan emanated from somewhere within the network, echoing loudly throughout and causing them to freeze in place. The sound was low, haunting; Arthur could feel the hairs on his neck stand on end, as if something were breathing directly down on him from right behind.

  The sound lasted no longer than a second, yet the echo seemed to reverberate in their heads for far longer; it was a long moment before Arthur moved first, facing the left now.

  "Seems my gut was right." He laughed nervously. "Or in this case, left. I've a strong feeling our dragon is down this way."

  "We can get the dragon later." Diana grimaced as she peered right, her eyes squinting in the dim light. "I'd like to secure the relic first, if possible."

  "Out of the question. The dragon must know we're here now." Arthur frowned. "We need to move quickly to catch him off guard. For all he knows, we're just wayward tomb robbers. He'll be counting on us to dally about instead of making a beeline for him."

  "Arthur, this relic is the Hallowed Chalice of Life! Blessed by the Lady herself!" Diana looked at him pleadingly. "It may aid us in our fight against the dragon! And even if not, better to leave here with the relic than empty-handed!"

  "Time is of the essence." Arthur gave Praetorus a look. "Surely, you agree."

  Praetorus was silent for a few moments, before he joined Arthur's side. "He is right. It is now or never."

  "I can't believe this." Diana sighed. "Praetorus, I expected nothing more, but you, Arthur? You're supposed to be a knight of the Regency!"

  "I am," Arthur replied. "And killing the dragon first is my duty as a knight."

  "Killing dragons and monsters may be what knights do," she remarked, turning to leave, "but living up to the Lady's virtues is what they are. Lady watch you both."

  And with that, she disappeared down the tunnel on the right, the light from her mace swallowed up by the darkness. Now bereft of a light source, Arthur quickly pulled an ancient torch from the wall and sparked it to life, casting a flickering orange glow along the ancient stone walls; compared to Diana's steady light, the torch felt like a pale imitation of it, allowing them sight only ten or so feet ahead compared to the twenty from before.

  Praetorus followed suit and grabbed another torch as well, lighting it up and improving their luminance slightly; still, even with two torches, it was no contest compared to Diana's light.

  The two of them gazed down the maw of the tunnel snaking to the left, their torches hardly cutting through the dark. That same feeling of dread and fear crept up through Arthur's chest, but he stifled it with a shaky step forward.

  "This way," he said, his voice bouncing off the silent walls even as he barely spoke above a whisper.