While Nub was checking urns and small boxes lining the hall, Orison carefully packed away the spectral remains. A few times, Nub would caution them to step around certain areas, more for the thin crust of dirt covering sink holes than any man made traps. It wasn"t long before they had cleared the hollow at the end that carried a small chest filled with little more than a collection of rusty equipment and a few coins.

Nub said, "I don"t understand. I mean, sure, a ghost can grow stronger by consuming other ghosts or absorbing ambient energy if it was a special place but how could an elder sustain itself and two specters here? There"s not even an ancestral tablet..."

Orison thought, "If tablets act as a focus for faith like the statue of the unnamed warrior in Whiteriver, then maybe my finder sense can pick it up."

He closed his eyes and focused on the energy sense Find Objective had turned into. Further down and in front of Orison, close to a city block away, lay a faint pinging glow in his mind"s eye. "There has to be a trap door or false wall, Nub."

The vampire chuckled. "That"s a fanciful thought, Orison, but sometimes it"s just a poor haul. Perhaps the keepers took the tablet with them when they fled to the coastal lands."

Orison looked at Nub irritably and summoned his golem from the loose and lightly packed dirt around the hollow. While Nub looked on in indulgent pity hiding a weak but hopeful antic.i.p.ation, Orison started check the most likely places based off the weak energy signal below. Catching enthusiasm, Gan went twisting and pulling a few sconces that lined the chamber using the candle flame spell he"d learned by rote from Orison to light his way. Unable to find any mechanism, or at least not one that worked, Orison used the golem to slowly poke a few bricks out till he found a s.p.a.ce behind them.

"Do that much more and you"re going to bury us, Orison," Nub said nervously.

Orison smiled and gestured to the s.p.a.ce behind a wall. "What"s that look like to you, Nub?"

The two came to investigate Orison"s find and saw a set of uneven stairs at the end of a st.u.r.dy, roughly hewn hallway.

"To be fair, this section was walled away a very long time ago, Nub. The outer portion was likely appropriated by an affluent family who DID take their tablet with them." Orison said, trying to be a gracious "winner".

Grateful to be exonerated, Nub said, "This would definitely be a dent to my expertise otherwise. I"ve been doing this for a long time, you know."

Gan mumbled to himself, "Being good at finding traps is one thing but being a grave robber"s nothing to be proud of."

"Point of contention between cultures, Northlander." Nub said adroitly.

Orison cut off the potential culture comparison conversation to ask, "Speaking of expertise. Have you seen this terraco- this type of clay baking before?"

Having gotten to the base of the stairs, after the golem smoothed out a small collapsed area, in front of them was a wide vista with stalact.i.tes merging into crumbled walls.

"I"ve heard of it but never seen it myself. I honestly believed it to be the fever dreams of a tomb "explorer" who ran foul of an old volcano vent." Nub said.

Seeing no apparent dangers, the three spread out to comb the place before meeting in the center. None had anything to show aside from Orison who offered a look at some patterned clay fragments he guessed once may have been ornamental statues. Something, it seemed, only he had interest in.

While Nub checked out the rusty but otherwise well preserved ancient lock box, Orison tried to interact with the large memorial tablet that had sunk partially into the floor. Though there were still granules of "faith" essence still in it, reminiscent of the warrior statue in Whiteriver, it was unresponsive to him. As an offhanded experiment, Orison tried to will some into his s.p.a.ce.

For a small moment, Orison was bombarded by weak whispers of people asking for things, people who he had no doubt were already long gone from this world. Something deep within himself rejected the presence of this energy and in response, his s.p.a.ce "burned it off" like how much of the ring of crystal had been. Since it seemed useless for much else, Orison funneled the remaining essence into his s.p.a.ce to aid it in digesting the boundary item.

Orison thought to himself, "How weak was my s.p.a.ce in comparison that the d.a.m.n box almost choked it to death trying to swallow it?"

If nothing else, the trip to this place had earned him the largest unblackened crystal he had yet to ever form and some aid for his s.p.a.ce"s ongoing indigestion. He also had a decent idea of what Lily had meant by "structure poison". While leaning against the largest of the stalact.i.tes nearby, Orison contemplated the nature of these higher energy sources and had a sneaking suspicion that there were ways to wipe off the "structure" within it to claim for one"s self. After all, to some degree that was what his s.p.a.ce was doing to the box and, in theory, what he did to the miasma after a fashion.

Hovering near Nub, Gan said, "Why don"t you just smash it open?"

Sighing Nub said, "Because, the most valuable things possibly in this d.a.m.n lock box are fragile and I"d break them."

Remembering a nearly useless spell set he had, Orison pushed off the stalact.i.te and walked over to offer what aid he could. During the process of clearing away rust and particles inside the tumbler, there was a large "crack" sound where he had been standing. With a forceful push of kinetic magics, Orison popped the lid up and had the much faster Nub scoop up the contents while he and Gan started running back to the stairs.

They didn"t make it but a few paces before a section of the floor gave way to fall into a dim and distant red glow below them. After Nub and Orison managed to grab up Gan who"d almost fallen in, they beat feet back to the entrance.

"Gan said, "Wait. When I almost fell, I caught a glimpse of a large soapstone box with stuff all around it, kind of dangling underneath in a carved out nook under there somewhere."

Gan pointed past the collapsed piece of floor to the back where the stalact.i.tes were thickest.

Orison shared a look with Nub that showed a similar thought on what that "soapstone" actually was.

"If Orison promises not to knock anymore stone icicles loose, I"ll take a look," Nub said.

Orison said, "I really hate that I"m about to say this but as long as you have a way to anchor and pull me back up, I might be the better choice to go. Things are already unstable over there and it might only be a one chance grab. I"ve got the superior retrieval ability."

Nub sighed, "This whole outing"s been filled with trust exercises. What"s one more?"

The vampire produced a coil of tightly woven silk string he insisted was several times stronger and resistant to fraying than standard rope. After being secured, the young mage care fully made his way to the uncovered burial chamber, looking for all intents and purposes like a severely swollen uvula.

As he made his way over for first haul, Orison thought, "How did this insane thing stay here for so long?"

Three trips and two hours later, Orison was running healing through his sc.r.a.ped and bleeding fingers that had been abused, even through the leather gloves, from all the free hand climbing. Aside from the lid which he barely managed to store, the rest of the jade coffin was still sitting down here. Unwilling to leave it, Nub suggested breaking it into pieces. Orison wasn"t keen but since Nub would give him the reagents and writings without deducting from his and Gan"s cut, Orison said he"d try for one more haul.

With a whispered apology to the dust blown out the side of the coffin, Orison started loading pieces away after he hilt punched the corner fittings to slide a side off. Once stored, Orison was making his way back when a woman"s head peaked around the edge of the dangling burial chamber.

Heart hammering in his chest, in a congenial voice, Orison said, "Uh, hi there."

He was answered by a shriek joined by another. Two succubus like creatures swiveled around the air before they lunged at him with talon feet. In a panic, Orison went to his go to for magically provided tanking. The summoned golem appeared in front of Orison and latched on to the leather winged women right before the floor gave way.

Orison screamed like a toddler as he began a free fall to certain death below. With a last desperate bid to kill the summoner and free itself, the nearest bat winged woman raked her unclasped foot down Orison"s side. Reflexive instinct had Orison holding his bowels in from the opened abdominal part of the raking while inborn magical gift prompted a perfunctory trickle of healing. The sudden snap of unforgiving silk rope stopped any further consideration for anything as the pain of his ruptured wound and spinal damage caused Orison"s consciousness to plummet into black oblivion.

"Come on, Little Boss. You got to wake up and do something or you"re not going to make it." Gan"s pleading brushed against the fuzzy feverish borders of Orison"s mind.

A dull thud to the side of his face, rocked Orison"s numb and sleepy world. He forced his heavy lids open to find out what was not letting him rest in peace. Through hazy and incoherent thoughts, he looked at Gan"s concerned face and realized something was wrong.

"Is somebody sick or hurt? I"m too tired." the string of unintelligible sounds that came out of Orison"s mouth sounded nothing like they did in his head.

To keep them from bothering him, he dropped a healing, cure poison and disease potion with another mumble that was meant to inform Gan that if they were wasted, he"d be mad but only sounded like weak moans. Feeling as if he"d done all he could with how tired he was, Orison drifted back into darkness. Before peace could claim him, fluids a.s.saulted his throat.

He coughed weakly and spluttered trying to ask why he was being drowned but all he received was yet another unwanted bit of liquid that tasted different to the last. He struggled weakly trying to stop the a.s.sault but every time he managed to choke it down, more was added. Finally, the drowning attacks stopped but then a tingling itch that revved up to screaming muscles and lower limbs kept the fringes of darkness away.

Orison"s eyes flew open. With returning clarity, he looked around at Nub and Gan"s concerned faces. Looking down, he could see signs that his belly had begun to swell and bruise. With cold logic kicking in, he realized he"d been on the very edge of dying from intestinal seepage into his abdominal cavity. All the healing provided by his amulet and Gan"s ring combined could do nothing for a rampant spread of bacteria. Even his resistance to poison and disease that sprung from his body"s resistance to change couldn"t keep up with a steady supply of toxins and microscopic lifeforms from his own ruptured bowels.

Noticing the dangerous level of flagging strength from his body, Orison chugged down a stamina potion and got to work. Since all of it was sealed inside of him and he was already weakened dangerously, his only option was to do what he could to a.s.sist his body in a natural purge.

In a voice barely over a whisper, Orison said, "I need water and strip me so I don"t soil my clothes. The potions will only get me so far and there"s only three places where things can come out without putting another hole in me... Apologies in advance."

A couple more cure poisons applied with directed will and Orison purged his body"s toxins in the way nature intended. Even knowing ahead of time, Orison ejected the various waste his body would allow in embarra.s.sed misery. Being cleaned by a patient and compa.s.sionate Gan, like a newborn, was something he vowed to forget as soon as time and cheap liquor would allow.

Seeing morning sky peek through Nub"s cabin window, Orison said, "We"re not going to be making it back before we"re missed. Mom"s going to freak out."

Gan said, "It"s fine. Nub disguised himself as a village runner and left a message at the guard station that you were delivering a child or whatever. He should be back shortly... I was really scared there. People usually don"t even come back from half what I saw."

In an effort to divert his own mind from yet another brush with death, Orison said, "What did you guys do about the tomb? There were Abyss monsters down there. We can"t just leave it exposed or things could get really bad!"

Gan said, "Nub took care of it... I mean, I didn"t see it myself but he said that the next time someone went there all they"d see is a sinkhole filled with seawater."

Orison weakly chuckled and said, "In the future, if you see me take the mask off "to breath a little easier", the code phrase to remind me of common sense is "baby wipe"."

Orison spent the rest of the day in a state of alternating naps, healing and bathroom breaks before the abdominal swelling went down. Come late evening an exhausted and overtaxed Nub came sauntering in with his progeny to check on him. With everything back in order, Orison handed over the last of the jade and Nub gave him what gold he could sc.r.a.pe together in antic.i.p.ation of more to come. The vampire also gave him two more bottles of blood mix to keep on hand for him.

"To bad I can"t build a resistance to the sun or by now I"d be able to walk around like everyone else. Two thirds because of you, Orison. I"ve done more vampire suicide runs than I have in the previous five years combined and the year"s only half way over," Nub said tiredly.

"All the more reason to enjoy my company. I keep your life exciting," Orison said with feeble humor.

The vampire woman said, "No offense to you or my sire but perhaps more recreational outings can be postponed for a few days. Both of you have jobs to do that won"t wait easily for recovery."

"A few days? Surely my young friend here should have filled his needs and then some... Orison, I don"t know how dire your circ.u.mstances are but once your full share has arrived, an additional five to seven thousand will be settling into your coffers." Nub said, plea for an end to unofficial adventures obvious in his voice and eyes.

Orison nodded and said, "Gold was a secondary from the beginning but I got what I needed. I have a strict two day policy on recovery from the brink of death anyway.. Just so you"re aware, I have no reserve of the crystals I gave you and I don"t know when I"ll be getting more."

"I thought you could get two more of the large ones." Nub said, obviously having no problem with his memory.

Sighing, Orison said, "If we had been hunting in the range I was expecting, then there would have been. Please tell me you didn"t over sell in antic.i.p.ation of more."

"Sh*t," Nub said.

Orison looked inside at the two soul crystals that were so large and pure they had a faint opal sheen in pale imitation of the eternium crystal slowly growing inside the black crystal formation. A third was slowly burning like a fat midwinter log in a part of his s.p.a.ce he could only bear looking at for a short time. Finally he observed the ring of powder and chips...o...b..ting the formation as the two pristine ones were gradually finding their balanced place in it.

With a faintly irritated tint in his weary voice, Orison said, "Get a small box, Nub. No use pointing fingers when we"re all guilty of something. I can"t give you a whole crystal but I can give you enough powder to keep you in good standing. If you can run in the sun for me, the least I can do is sc.r.a.pe the bottom of the pot for you."

Nub rummaged around until he found a clean, suspiciously urn-like container. "Thanks for being understanding about it. I"ll be a little more careful in the future."

As Orison dumped a good third of the volume of his crystal ring, he said, "I could say the same back. Then you could say it again after Gan took a turn. Doesn"t change that one of us will screw up again sometime... For example... Progeny of Nub, I"ll be more careful in the future. Thanks for being understanding about it."

She raised an eyebrow and said, "Who said I was being understanding about it? I"m just not in any hurry to pay back my grudge."

Orison sighed. "Always somebody who doesn"t want to play by the rules everyone else is using."

Ambling back on Stupid Horse, Orison rode behind Gan for a change. Still weary and feeble feeling, Orison desired to be as responsibility free as possible.

Pa.s.sing back Gan"s enchanted ring, he said, "So the story is a long and complicated delivery? Nub"s a.s.surance that he could "borrow" a mother and a baby if the need arose disturbs me a little."

Gan was silent for awhile, then said, "I"m not one to look sideways at a proven friend and ally but what about "vampire" do you not seem to get? There is absolutely no good to come of a.s.sociating long term with such creatures. If the endless stories of the suffering they cause, even to those they care for, isn"t evidence enough, what can I say?"

Orison tried to parry, "Other than dietary needs and a few allergies, they aren"t that much different... Which is to say they have understandable psychology."

"Instinct and darkness at the very core of their existence, is the difference. An abbot from THE Sanctuary wrote a whole book about vampires. You can read it in the mercenary guild-house there at Whiteriver. He claimed that a person"s soul is corroded almost to nothingness in the process of becoming a vampire. It is the filling of that emptiness with the essence of darkness and death that grants them their strength. In time, they come to resemble a creature of the Abyss themselves. Their mortal form becomes no more than a disguise to make hunting easier." Gan said.

Orison said, "No offense meant. I knew you could read but I didn"t take you for a person who enjoyed it."

Gan drawled lazily, "Back when I decided to specialize as a scout, I took it a little more serious than most. Outside of that, I do like a good hair raiser. Or I used to, at least. These days, I"m just happy to get an uninterrupted sleep... I thought I"d be good after knocking those ghosts around but then I saw you almost get gutted by that...thing. No, I don"t think I have a taste for that kind of story anymore.

"When she taught me how to read, Gran told me that people most enjoyed reading what their life lacked. Maybe I"ll switch to romances. Don"t tell anyone I said that. I"d rather admit to swapping spit with an old wood elf first."

Orison thought about the type of books he enjoyed reading on Earth. He had to admit that Gan"s "Gran" might be on to something. After what he"d been through here, many of his favorite stories probably wouldn"t have the same appeal they once did.