They awoke the next day before dawn, ate sparingly, stocked their packs with only what they would need in a pinch, and left the rest at the campsite with the horses. The sky was slate-gray and cheerless, and there was a stronger wind than usual. Armor was adjusted, spells were placed within the rings of the spellcasters' minds, and weapons were sharpened and oiled. In silence they made their way across the blanket of pine needles on the forest floor, keeping just out of eyesight to the south of the road.

In about forty-five minutes they began seeing shapes through the trees ahead of them: slabs of white marble and gray stone, some of them standing still as buildings or fountains, some of them crumbling into ruin. The five of them slowed their pace, taking more care to make less noise. In five more minutes they reached the edge of the city. By unspoken agreement, Xenia had led the group all the way to the city's edge, but once there, Fiona had taken the reins. The group halted there for the moment while Fiona sized up the situation. She had a plan of attack in mind, but she was cautious enough to check for contingencies before continuing on.

Beleriand had been a city of perhaps four hundred Dwarves, built on the side of a hill in a cleared-out area within the forest. It sprawled out before them now, dead and decaying, the majority of its buildings destroyed or about to fall over. Immediately before the party, at the western edge of the city, most of the buildings were reduced to rubble, although several standing structures remained in the central and northern portions of the town. Most of the buildings remained out of sight, half-hidden behind standing buildings, or placed too high up on the hill for them to see clearly. Fiona stood there, gazing out across the ruins for any signs of activity, and in the meanwhile the rest of the group quickly queued up in single file, with Xenia immediately behind Fiona, and then Idgie, Karna, and Mandi in that order.

"Inviting place," said Idgie in a hushed whisper, and Fiona turned to glare at her. The mage put a finger to her lips, and then began to walk forward into the ruins, carefully prodding the ground before her with her staff before taking each step. Much of the rock had been reduced to gravel, and so Fiona was reminded of walking in a stone quarry as they made their way into town. Xenia drew her bow, and Karna followed suit, while Idgie pulled out a sling and loaded it with a heavy metal slug.

The first item of interest they found was perhaps twenty yards into the city: a broken fountain, with its statuary having been hacked into small bits and left within the main pool of the fountain. There was water within the pool, but it was rank and ridden with algae. Fiona poked carefully at some stones that looked to be the remains of the fountain's statue, resembling the head of a dwarf-child. There were chinks in the face from having been struck several times with a blade, and its right side was stained black with blood. Fiona made a face and turned to continue inwards.

Just then a shout went up: "'Ey! Halt, you!" The five of them looked to the north, and there was a trio of humanoid creatures looking angry and marching towards them. They were man-sized but bulkier, with broad shoulders and a thick coat of fur. Their faces were dark, nearly as dark as Karna's, and they each had two small, hooked-under horns sticking out of their temples. They wore black and tan armor of poor make, rings of iron supported by slats of wood, and they bore swords of crude design. The creatures drew their weapons and charged.

"Hobgoblins!" hissed Xenia, and before another second had passed, she drew her bow and let fly an arrow, striking the lead hobgoblin in the shoulder. The beast slowed for a moment before continuing its charge. Idgie loosed her sling bullet at the same creature, but missed, but then Karna took careful aim and struck it full in the chest. The second wound did the trick, and the creature fell to the ground. Karna immediately loosed a second arrow, missing one of the two remaining hobgoblins, but Xenia's arrow did not miss, nor did Idgie's sling-bullet, and the second one fell as well. At that, the third one turned and screaming fled into the city, dropping its weapon in it haste to leave. In all, the creatures had not gotten within thirty yards of the group, but some fortuitous shooting had managed to knock off a pair of them. Unfortunately, the echo of the survivor's screams bounced back and forth among the ruins, and that brought a scowl to Fiona's face.

"Lovely," said the mage. "So much for being quiet. Let's go have a look at the bodies."

Idgie pushed out into the lead, for this was her specialty. But just as she reached the corpses, Xenia caught up to her. "Whoa, wait a second," said the Ranger. "These critters can be pretty tricky, you know that." She drew her longsword and with two quick chops clove the heads from the bodies. "There," she said, sounding pleased. "That should make sure they're taken care of."

Idgie chuckled and began rummaging through the possessions of the hobgoblins. She found a few coins (which she pocketed), a rusted knife, a hammer and a few metal spikes, but nothing else of any interest. "Nope, nothing much," she reported. "Some pocket-change and some tools, that's it."

"No insignias or anything like that?" asked Fiona.

"Nope." Idgie stood up and wiped her hand on her cloak. "Looks like a renegade batch. Maybe we'll be lucky and that one will be the only one left."

"What about food?" asked Fiona.

"Nothing."

"Hm…" Fiona fretted about that for a bit. "It might be that the third one was the food-bearer for the group, but this still worries me. If they weren't carrying food, it might mean that there's a camp of them somewhere nearby." She sighed. "But still, there are no insignias on them, so I really shouldn't worry about it so much."

"Um, insignias?" asked Mandi, a puzzled look on her face, which was barely visible beneath her helm. "I'm obviously missing something here…"

Idgie, Fiona and Xenia all nodded, but only Fiona spoke. "If you'll recall, most of our last outing was spent hunting for and fighting these creatures. They're hobgoblins."

"Yes, I recognize them," said Mandi with a grimace. "Accursed things."

"I'm surprised you don't remember this next bit; it's right up your alley, you being a priest of Donnor and all," said Fiona. "Hobgoblins are a pretty regimented society. Normally each one of them has with it a number of insignia, designating rank, troop name, and clan. These ones have no markings, so they were probably a rogue group. They'd have been killed once they tried getting back home."

Mandi nodded. "I knew some of the background, but I never knew the specifics." She smiled. "I'm a bit new at this too, you know."

Fiona smiled back at her, nodding. "Anyhow, the alarm has gone out, and so there's no use being overly quiet now. Just be careful, all of us, and keep an eye out for one another. And let's stay together! And keep an eye open for anything that might be a temple, ruined or not."

They now moved a bit more quickly across the open plains, stepping around the rubble that they found and looking to see if they could get any clues as to what might have caused the damage. The stones had occasional splotches of blood, and there was plenty of evidence of blade work, and even a stone or two that was scorched by some ancient flame. Yet neither Xenia nor Fiona nor Karna could come up with any explanations of what had happened a century and a half before, other than that.

"Xenia," said Fiona, "any tracks on the ground?"

Xenia called the group to a halt and walked slowly in a circle of moderate radius about the group. "Some tracks besides the hobgoblins'. Close to a week old, and no discernable trail after them. I don't think I could follow them if I wanted to."

"Any idea of the species of the trackmakers?"

"No. Maybe humanoid. The tracks aren't terribly big, and they've decayed a bit."

"Okay, then; we'll just ignore them."

"Okay," said Xenia. "But there's also this: it looks like there's the remains of the road here too, running directly through town." She strode a bit ahead of the group to stand in the center of the road, about thirty yards away from where the other four stood. She looked back west, and nodded. "Yup, there it goes, back into the trees."

"Excellent," said Fiona. "Let's follow it." The others nodded, and they caught up to Xenia. They re-formed their marching order and turned to their right, facing the road as it wound eastwards towards the more intact buildings. The path took them into the center of the city, and several buildings that they passed looked as if they might be housing something still: there was evidence that a few of them had been used by animals as dens in recent years.

"Whaddya say, Fi, should we go have a look?" asked Idgie. She looked longingly at the abandoned buildings.

"No, not yet," answered Fiona. "We'll go have a look later, if there's time. Right now I want to find that temple."

The road passed through a central court, in the middle of which were the remains of another fountain. However, unlike the other fountain, although the statuary was again missing, there was no evidence of the remains of the statues anywhere near the white marble base. Instead, the ground was colored a finer white, as if the marble had been powdered and sprinkled liberally about. And about halfway up the statue's base, the statue had been sheared off. But then something caught Fiona's eye, and she leaned closer to take a better look at the stump of the statue.

"What is it?" asked Karna.

"Look here," said Fiona, and she ran her fingers across the smooth surface of the cut. Karna did likewise before she continued, as did Idgie. "No blade made that cut," said Fiona. She took out a small pouch, carefully scraped up some of the white soil from nearby the fountain, and placed it back within her pack. "I'll have a closer look when we get back."

"Magic?" asked Idgie.

"I think so," said Fiona. She fretted slightly. "I really must spend more time studying the workings of all the known spells. There seems to be more value than I thought in having a strong working knowledge of spells I cannot yet cast. In the meanwhile, let's keep moving. Shout if you see anything."

The road at that point forked. One branch led off to the east, and Xenia guessed that it would lead quickly to the woods on the other side of the city, so they chose the other. This latter branch turned a bit to the north, and soon began heading directly up the main hill of the city, switching back several times as the road steepened. Most of the buildings on the hill showed little damage but a lot of wear from the passing years; Fiona guessed that they had been abandoned for some reason. "It looks to me like there was some sort of battle," she said. "And the Dwarves up and left en masse at some point – or were captured and routed. What do you think?"

"Sounds right to me," said Xenia, and Karna and Mandi nodded in agreement.

"Any idea what caused it? What the attackers were?"

No one had any response to offer. The group continued upwards.

It was about an hour after they first entered the town that the road stopped climbing and leveled off. They were not quite to the top of the hill, but at this point, about four or five hundred feet above the plains below, there was a wide shelf upon the hill, perhaps a hundred yards wide and twice that long. The air was cold and crisp, and for the first time in weeks the five of them felt a strong wind across their faces. To their right, near the edge of the shelf, was the broken ruin of what might have once been a gazebo. In front of them stretched out a wide grounds fenced in by iron, and studded with buildings that could be nothing but mausoleums. The road wound to the left to avoid the cemetery, and at the far left, nestled up against the side of the hill, was a beautiful temple of white marble. There were stone steps leading up to the magnificent carved doorway, and the ironwork that decorated the edifice was without peer. There were four marble pillars across the front, and each one had a Dwarvish rune upon its front in an untarnished silvery metal. Fiona knew that these letters spelled out the lone word that was the same in the language of both Dwarves and Men: Erda, the mother-goddess, the Earth, whom the Dwarves loved above all other.

"There it is," said Fiona, and without further comment the group pushed on along the road to the very steps of the Temple, nearly forgetting to keep a careful watch around them in their excitement. The stone front door of the Temple was shut. A gnarled oak tree stood off to the right side of the Temple, but other than that, there was nothing to be seen except the gazebo and the mausoleums. The road ended at the steps of the Temple. The group stood there breathlessly at the end of the road, staring at the beautiful building before them. They had toiled long and hard for three weeks in the forest to get here, and had worked several weeks before that in Sarakkhis just to discover where this place was. There was an odd sense of closure here, standing before the doors in silence. No one said anything for nearly two minutes before Idgie spoke.

"So, what now?"

Fiona had been preparing for this moment mentally for the past month, and now launched her plans. "We split up." She turned to the group, and pointed to each person as she named him or her. "Xenia, you stay with me. I need your protection while I search for the entrance that the map indicates is over on that side of the Temple." She waved her hand off to the right. "Karna, Idgie, Mandi, you go check out the area around here. We were warned about guardians; I want you to see what you can find out about them." The four others nodded; all of them felt it was a sound plan.

"Cool," said Idgie. "We'll give a yell if we need you. Holler when you find the secret door."

Fiona nodded in response, and at once she went around to the right side of the Temple, Xenia half a step behind her. The other three turned towards the Temple steps, and were soon out of sight of the mage. Fiona soon came to a small clearing near the back of the Temple, just at the point where the Temple met the back of the hill: the rear wall of the Temple was flush up against the stone. The rock face was sheer and unbroken. The oak tree was nearby, perhaps ten yards from both the Temple and the hill; all its leaves had fallen to the season. The Temple itself had a base of sloping stones, made of white marble like the Temple itself, and nearly horizontal, having a ten-degree slope at best. Fiona marveled at how much the rocks must have weighed, and wondered how the Dwarves, who were known to be unskilled in magic, had managed to move such titanic slabs. It was to these stones that Fiona went first, poring over them as if they contained writings that would reveal to her the secrets of the Ages.

Xenia paid little attention to Fiona at first, instead going over to the oak tree and studying it closely. But she knew her duty, and she soon turned back to Fiona, and went to stand a few paces from her, looking around carefully to make sure that nothing was out of the ordinary. But there was not a soul to be seen, and after about fifteen minutes of waiting, the Ranger turned back to the mage and spoke.

"What're you looking for, Fi?" she asked.

Fiona paused in her scrutiny and looked up. "Are you aware of how the Dwarves make their hidden doors, Xenia?" she asked.

Xenia only shook her head no in response.

Fiona stood up – she had been kneeling and examining the marble slabs at the base of the Temple. "I've had a few talks with Kane, and from what he tells me, it's like this. The Dwarves build their doors with a craftsmanship unmatched by any other race. Despite the fact that they have few magical powers – only a limited number of priestly magics – their doors are absolutely undetectable by any means save some special spells, which are at the moment beyond the skills of anyone in our group. If there is a door here, as the map indicates, it could be anything, anywhere. It could be in the wall of the hill, in these slabs, in that tree, on the ground – anywhere. Kane told me that all we have to do is find the way to open it."

"Hm," said Xenia, and she furrowed her brow in thought. "Does the map say how to open it?"

"No," said Fiona. "It indicates a door over on this side of the temple, but it could literally be just about anything. Kane told me that the opening-mechanism could be almost anything, just like the door itself could be almost anything. There might be a command-phrase to say, but I've already tried saying aloud everything on the map."

"I didn't know you spoke Dwarvish," said Xenia.

"I don't," answered Fiona. "But Kane told us that the map was written entirely in Common, just using Dwarvish lettering. We have his translation, remember."

"Hm, that's weird," said Xenia.

Fiona nodded. "In any event, finding the door, and finding out how to open it, are usually the same thing. If phrases don't work, it could be that we might have to find some trigger, or touch some place with something specific, or perhaps use a key in a secret slot."

"Do we have a key?"

"No," said Fiona. "But the map didn't indicate the use of a key. Let's hope that there is no key that we have to use. Let's see here… it could also be that we have to wait for some specific date or event to occur. It wouldn't be nice to have to wait for either of those, either." She sighed and turned to go back to her search.

Xenia stood there, her brow still creased in thought for a moment. "You said that the Dwarves would hide their door," said the ranger. "Would they also hide the keyhole?"

"Yes," responded the mage. "According to Kane, they would make their keyholes in such a way that those in the know could find them without difficulty, but those who were not meant to find them would find it all but impossible. Why do you ask?"

"I think I may have found something," said Xenia, and she turned back to the oak tree.

"Yes?" Fiona brightened noticeably. She had expected the search to take a lot longer, perhaps days or even weeks, but if Xenia had indeed discovered something of import, it would be a veritable godsend. The mage went over to the tree to join her companion. "What is it?"

"It's this tree," said Xenia. "It doesn't belong here."

Fiona gave a start. "What do you mean, doesn't belong here? Isn't it indigenous to the area?"

"It is a native plant," said Xenia. "But this far north, this high up on a hill, with this sort of wind biting at it…" Xenia looked into the wind, which blew her bangs back out of her face. "No oak tree could survive, nor could any leaf-dropper. In these conditions, only shorter firs and balsams and such can survive. An oak seedling wouldn't make it past its first year. This tree was planted here, or transferred here on purpose, and it's been kept alive by some sorcery that I don't understand."

Fiona nearly burst with joy. "Xenia, I could kiss you!"

Xenia shook her head. "No thanks, not interested."

Fiona could only laugh. "Anything else out of the ordinary about this tree?"

"Well, now that you mention it…" Xenia walked to the north side of the tree, the side facing directly towards the hillside. There was a rotten knothole, giving way to a hollow, about four feet above the ground on that side of the tree. "See here?" said the Ranger. "This knothole's all wrong. It's at a tilt that would be impossible on a normal oak – no branches on an oak tree grow in that direction. This was also put here or made for some unnatural reason."

Fiona looked closely at it, barely able to contain her excitement. "What's inside the hollow?"

"I didn't check." Xenia peered closely at the knothole, but could make out nothing inside it. She took out a lightstone and held it up before the hole, illuminating the hollow inside. "Can't see anything," she muttered. "Looks safe. But…" She brought out her longsword and thrust it into the hole. She poked around inside gingerly with the point of the sword, but nothing untoward happened, so she reached her hand in without a word. Fiona gave a gasp, but luckily nothing happened. "Aha," said Xenia after a moment. "There's something inside, almost like a little branch – I don't know the word for it – that never appears in the hollow of any tree like this. It's about as big as my finger."

"A lever, maybe?" asked Fiona.

Xenia nodded. "I think so. Let me try it." And before Fiona had a chance to respond, Xenia seized hold of the handle and pulled it downwards. Fiona had no time to scold her friend for the rash action before a grinding noise, as rock against rock, came from behind them. One of the sloped slabs at the base of the temple – the second one from the hillside – was slowly swinging upwards. Fiona and Xenia froze in place, each readying herself for battle if need be, but nothing happened. After thirty seconds or so, the horrid grinding noise stopped, and the door halted, having swung over a full turn to rest on the third slab from the hillside. They walked forward slowly and cautiously, without a word, to look down into the opening. As they neared it, Xenia held up her lightstone to cast some rays down the hole, and they could see a stone staircase therein, sloping downwards at a sharp angle. Both of them let out a sigh of relief.

"Xenia," said Fiona, "Sometimes you just amaze me."

The two of them had a short chuckle as they relaxed a bit and stepped back from the door. It was just then that a woman's wail came piercingly loud from the direction of the gazebo.

Idgie watched Fiona and Xenia disappear around the edge of the Temple, at which point she turned to Karna and Mandi and said, "So, where are we off to first?"

"Mm, I don't know," said Karna. "Wherever you'd like to go is fine."

Mandi only shrugged. "Your pick, Idgie."

"Cool!" Idgie turned to the west and began to make her way towards the cemetery. "Let's check out the graves first. Maybe the Dwarves bury their treasure with their dead."

Karna was about to open his mouth to object, but Mandi beat him to it. "I don't think that's exactly appropriate, Idgie," said the priestess.

Idgie stopped, and turned back with a disappointed look on her face. But she paused a moment, and considered the situation before answering, and responded with folded arms and a scowl. "All right," she said. "So we leave the stuff alone." She gave a sigh. "Well, Fi asked us to have a look over there anyway, so maybe we should take a peek."

"Agreed," said Karna. His face was drawn up in a look of concentration.

"What is it, Karna?" asked Mandi, stopping.

"Well," he said, "It looks like we're facing the museum question."

"Huh?" said Idgie. "What's that?"

"Well, you see, it goes like this…" Karna paused for a moment, collecting the idea properly. "Is it better to leave treasure here with the burial site, should we find the burial site disturbed and should we find any treasure, or ought we instead to bring it out of this place, to somewhere that it won't be looted?"

Mandi nodded, and Idgie followed suit after considering the idea for a moment. "My vote is that we take it with us and give it back to Kane," said the blonde woman, "so he can give it back to his people."

"Agreed," said Mandi, and Karna added, "What of it we might find, or be able to carry back."

"Besides," said Idgie, smiling. "The stuff might have great personal value to them. We might get a reward that's even more than the stuff is worth!"

Mandi could only roll her eyes in response.

The trio made its way to the edge of the cemetery in a minute or so, and stood there, staring wordlessly. The stone mausoleums rose up forbiddingly before them, and the wind, while it whipped their hair about their faces at the entrance, did not seem to disturb the sparse grass around the tombs. The sky above seemed to go dark, and despite the fact that it was still morning, they felt a forbiddance of sorts emanating from the place, warning them to keep out, telling them to beware of what might happen come nightfall. The three of them were loath to move for nearly a minute. "On second thought," said Idgie, "Let's go check out the gazebo, eh?"

"Nonsense," said Mandi, and she pushed her way past Idgie and Karna to be the first to enter the burial grounds. "Let's have a look around here first."

The other two somewhat reluctantly joined her, and Mandi herself seemed to be a bit more cautious than usual in making her way across the grounds. The trio walked over to the first tomb, and examined it carefully. It was still shut, and Dwarven runes laced all its flat faces, telling ancient stories in words that the three of them did not understand. Idgie went to the main door of the crypt and, after getting a nod of approval from the others, she carefully gave the door a push. It did not move. Idgie tried pushing again, and then pulling, but still it would not give. "It's stuck," she said.

"Good," said Karna. "Let's leave it alone, then."

They made their way towards the second tomb. Idgie looked about as they went. "Huh," she said. "Doesn't look like there are any tombstones or anything like that to mark single graves."

"That's because there shouldn't be any," answered Karna.

The two women stopped and looked to him in surprise. "How'd you know that?" asked Mandi. "I thought that the Elves and Dwarves hated one another."

"We don't actually hate one another," said Karna uncomfortably. "I was raised by adoptive human parents, and so I wasn't brought up with the idea, but I'm aware that such prejudices exist on both sides. I don't much understand it myself."

"Was it always that way?" asked Idgie. "I mean, did you and the Dwarves always not get along?"

"Well, I myself have never had a bad thing to say about a Dwarf," said Karna. "But no, the unease between the two races was not something that goes back a long time. I don't fully understand the reasons for it myself, actually."

Idgie nodded, and then Mandi brought the original topic back to bear. "Anyway, Karna, how did you come about this knowledge of the Dwarves and their habits?"

"Because I took a course about it at the Academy. Master Kane was an excellent instructor, and I learned much from him about such things."

"Were the other Elves at the Academy angry with you for taking the course?" asked Mandi.

"Some of them. Didn't bother me." He shrugged.

"Okay, so why aren't there any tombstones?" asked Idgie impatiently.

"Well, you see, it's like this…" Karna put a hand to his chin, giving the impression that he was about to launch into one of his "scholarly" talks (as Idgie called them), and at this Idgie sighed audibly. Karna caught the hint and straightened up, and gave a shorter summary. "In short, the Dwarves only inter their dead in stone. They believe that they came from stone, and to stone they should return. When they dwell above ground, only mausoleums suffice for interment of the dead, and they lay their dead to rest in family units."

Mandi and Idgie nodded, but did not comment. Idgie edged a bit ahead of the others, and was the first to peek around the edge of the next tomb. "Huh," she said. "Looks like someone didn't let the poor bastard inside this one rest in peace. The door's open."

Mandi and Karna came quickly to Idgie's side. Indeed, the door to the second crypt had been forced open and was hanging ajar. The three of them stood apprehensively at the opening, in silence for a moment, before Mandi stepped slightly forward. "Draw your weapons, guys," she said. "There may be undead guardians here. If there are, let me try turning them first; it may be our be our only chance." She drew out a lightstone in one hand, and in the other she clutched the holy symbol of Donnor, holding it forth before her.

Idgie shuddered. She had yet to encounter any undead in all her travels, but the tales of them that she remembered chilled her to the bone. There were some undead that were just mindless walking corpses, but which were created to seek out and destroy anything living they could find. There were other forms of undead as well, most of them with some sort of intellect, ranging from corpse-eating ghouls and their paralyzing claws, to nigh-unkillable, ravening vampires, to such overwhelmingly powerful things as liches, the immortal remains of necromancers of great power. Priests of almost every faith were blessed with the ability to keep the undead at bay, although Idgie had never seen such a "turning" (as it was called by the local priests) done before. More powerful priests, with a great many pockets opened within their spell-rings, were strong enough to blast lesser undead out of existence, and only they could hope to turn an evil so great as a lich. Idgie hoped that this would not be the time for her first witnessing of a turning attempt, but at the same time, curiosity about the rite tore at her. She bit her tongue in excitement even as she drew her short sword from its sheath. Next to her Karna had drawn out a longsword with his right hand, and with his left he gestured in an arcane manner, as if drawing some spell to the forefront of his mind. The three companions paused for a moment, and then Mandi approached the open door.

Mandi held the lightstone near the opening and peered in. "Whaddya see?" asked Idgie eagerly. "Anything nasty?"

"Nothing moving," said Mandi. "But the place is a mess. It's been ransacked. No bodies left; something must have taken them. Here, someone help me get this door open…"

"I've got it." Karna stepped forward, and he and Mandi used their combined strength to shove the door of the crypt wide open. Wordlessly the three of them stared inside.

The crypt was perhaps seven feet high, and its stone floor rested just below the ground. There were eight biers along each of the side walls, stacked four high in two columns. But the bodies that belonged on the biers were all missing, and only a few scraps of cloth remained behind to hint that there had once been the bodies of Dwarves resting therein. There was broken crockery and shattered wooden boxes on the floor, and the stone chest at the rear of the crypt was sundered, its contents scattered. Mandi walked in cautiously, Karna and Idgie close on her heels, and she peered all about. When it became apparent that there was nothing, living, dead, or undead, in the place other than themselves, they relaxed, sheathed their weapons, and went about looking over the place. Idgie went at once to the shattered stone chest.

"Nothing, looks like," she said, tossing aside the stone shards of the chest. "Well, nothing of any value, at least. Just these iron things." She held up a small object, a disc about the size of a small pancake, for the others to see.

"I wouldn't say they're worthless, Idgie," said Mandi, coming over to take the item in her hand. "This is a religious relic, perhaps magical – but perhaps not – made by the Dwarves."

"Yes," said Karna. "I was taught about such things, but I have never seen one. Each family had its own personal symbol, which contained its own coat of arms, per se, and it also contained inscriptions holy to their god, Erda."

"I have seen such holy symbols of Erda before," said Mandi. "We should bring these back. They may not have looked worthwhile to anyone, but the families that this belongs to would find it nearly priceless."

"Wow, all that value on a little piece of… Oh, my." Idgie had been rummaging through the collection of symbols, and found something more interesting. "My, my, my, my, my." She stood up slowly, and in her hand was another symbol, perfectly identical to the others in all respects save one: instead of being made of heavy iron, it was made of a lightweight metal, silver in color, and still untarnished after all these years.

"By Donnor and Indra on high," breathed Karna as he looked at the symbol. "That must be made of mithril, like the lettering on the temple. May I see it?"

"Sure." Idgie handed him the symbol, although a bit grudgingly. "What is mithril?"

Karna marveled over the piece for a moment before answering her. "You have heard of Dwarf-silver, as Men call it?"

"Yup, but I've never seen any. It's worth ten times what platinum is, and is so valuable for making weapons and armor that no-one ever makes coins of it. Is that what this is?"

Karna nodded, and at once Idgie's eyes went wide with wonder. "Then you're holding more money right now that I've ever owned in my entire life."

"All the more reason to return it," said Mandi. Karna nodded, and Idgie reluctantly nodded as well. Karna wrapped the collection of holy items in some of the scraps of cloth they had found, and while he did, he expounded upon his story.

"Dwarf-silver, or mithril as both the Dwarves and Elves call it, is prized beyond all other metals by our two races. The Elves hold that the Dwarves discovered it, but the Elves perfected it uses. Dwarves hold otherwise, of course. I know little of blacksmithing, but it is said that in making wrought-mithril weapons and armor, the metal is easily molded and shaped, but once cooled it is stronger than steel, harder than all other things save diamonds, and it never tarnishes. Yet it is lightweight and easily worn. See? Even this piece weighs little more than a biscuit." He put the small bundle in his pack. "I shall guard them, I think, though I perhaps do not deserve the honor."

"Fine by me," said Idgie, and Mandi nodded. Then the younger woman added, "I sure hope we find some more of that stuff lying around…"

Mandi gave Idgie a warning look, and Idgie responded with a laugh and a pat on the priestess's behind. "Ah, don't you worry," she said smiling. "C'mon, let's go to the next one!"

The next crypt was ajar as well, and again they were cautious as they opened it, and again there was nothing organic inside. This time, though, there wasn't anything metal, either, nor were there any cloth scraps or the like. It had been stripped clean. The companions found that to be puzzling, for each had guessed that there would again be holy objects to be found, but they discovered nothing in a search of the place. The fourth crypt was shut, like the first had been, and they could not open it, so they went on to the fifth.

The fifth tomb was also shut, but this time, when they touched the door, it swung silently open.

And there before them stood three of the most ghastly things Idgie had ever laid eyes on.

There were four of the creatures. Each one looked to be made of the rotted corpse of a Dwarf, its flesh hanging in tatters about its body, with rotten scraps of cloth barely clinging to the skin. They moved in a jerky, unsteady motion, and a dead light of sheer malice was within their eyes. They smelled like an open grave, and worms crawled in and out of their eyeholes and nostrils even as they advanced upon the group.

"Back!" called Mandi, and as the others obeyed, she stepped forward, and thrust out the holy symbol of Donnor. "By the power of the Lord of the Skies," she began in a commanding voice, and the creatures stopped their advance to listen. "By the strength and the spear of the Lord Donnor, who dwelleth above in glory with his brethren, and who biddeth all His servants hunt and kill all that which is unholy, I command thee begone! Go now whence thou came, and return unto this world no more!"

There was a moment of stillness as neither the priestess nor the undead creatures stirred, the dark will of Kali within the animated corpses vying with the strength of Mandragora's faith. After a moment, the creatures stirred, and gave forth a few gasping, choking noises. Then, to the great relief of both Karna and Idgie, the creatures turned and fled back into the depths of the shadows within the tomb. "Come!" cried Mandragora, her commanding presence amplified by the success of her turning. "We have some time before they will begin to fight. We must take the opportunity to destroy them!" She let go of her holy symbol, and it fell back to dangling on its chain about her neck; she then drew a wicked-looking mace, and turned to advance on the creatures, Karna at her side with sword drawn.

However, something held Idgie back. "Wait!" she called suddenly. And when the other turned to her questioningly, she said, "Aren't they Dwarves? Is it really right to kill them like this, in cold blood?"

Mandi's eyes blazed with some inner passion as she responded. "These were once Dwarves, yes," she said. "But now they are Dwarven bodies possessed by the spirits of the damned, darkling servants of Kali. The Dwarves' souls are still within the bodies, trapped therein by the evil that brought these things to unlife, and the spirits of the dead cannot rest until these things are destroyed. Whoever created these things trapped the souls of the Dwarves, even as the creation of these beings damned the soul of those who created them. The only way the Dwarves may find salvation is if we destroy these bodies, and send their spirits to their deserved place of rest."

Idgie did not have to hear or say another word. She drew her short sword, and with a look of determination on her face that startled Karna, she took deliberate aim and ran the zombie through. Mandi and Karna did not hesitate in doing likewise. It took several blows to fell each of the creatures, especially the ones Mandi fought – her mace seemed to have little effect on them, while the swords of the other two combatants sliced open the undead with ease – but after a few minutes of hard fighting, the zombies lay in pieces on the floor, unmoving.

Karna and Idgie gasped for breath. Fear had sapped them of much of their endurance. "Are they dead?" asked Karna, shaking a bit.

"They already were dead," replied Mandi, who was busy chanting some rite of purification over the bodies.

"I think he means, are these things gonna stay dead now?" asked Idgie.

Mandi finished her ritual half a moment later. "Yes," she replied. "We've nothing to fear from them now." She sighed.

A short search revealed nothing more of interest in the crypt, and it was decided that they would wait until later to properly inter the bodies of the Dwarves. They moved on to the sixth tomb, and Idgie counted perhaps ten more beyond that one which would have to be explored. She hoped that they would find no more zombies, but she wasn't taking any chances: she gripped her sword all the more tightly as they approached the next door.

This time, the door was open again, barely ajar. Approaching cautiously, Mandi held her lightstone in one hand and her holy symbol in the other, and at her nod, Karna swung open the door. Immediately they were met with a sight that was, if anything, ten times more frightening than the zombies had been. Before them, nearly invisible even under the strong light of the stone, was a floating, disembodied spirit. At first it looked like a black, mottled cloud of putrescence, perhaps nothing more than swamp gases of some sort, but it immediately seemed to turn towards the trio. Within is body it formed a pair of hands, ichorous and black, and two great red eyes coalesced like burning balls of flame within what might have been the thing's head. "What mortal dare disturb my rest?" came a horrible, shuddering voice, shaking the walls of the tomb and striking fear into the hearts of the three companions.

Mandi, luckily, did not hesitate. She stepped forth, and held her holy symbol aloft, and again began the incantation she had spoken before. "By the power of the Lord of the Skies," she began, but this time the creature was not held fast in its tracks. Slowly, inexorably, it began advancing on them, moving by some unknown means, drifting wordlessly towards them, its eyes filled with a hungry light. Mandi broke off the ritual after a few more words. "I have not the strength to turn this beast," she said. "Fight!"

At once the thing was upon them, and it turned upon Mandi in its wrath. Mandi was putting away her symbol and bringing out her weapon and shield, and could do nothing but try to fend off the creature's attack at the moment. Claws materialized at the ends of the beast's outstretched fingers. It hissed, and a horrid grinding of claw upon metal was heard as it strove to reach Mandi beneath her armor. Karna and Idgie were not idle. They both strode forward and took great swings at the creature with their weapons. But it was to no avail, for their weapons passed through it harmlessly.

"It is a wraith!" called Mandi as she attained her feet. "Unenchanted weapons will do it no harm! We must flee! Do not let it touch you!"

The trio did not hesitate even a second before turning and fleeing full speed from the crypt, turning back towards the gate at the west end of the cemetery. They ran as fast as they could, but Mandi, who was exhausted from the turning attempts, and who also bore the great weight of full armor, soon fell behind, and the creature, which had taken up pursuit of them almost at once, was gaining on her. Karna saw this at once, and stopped to wait for her. He lowered his sword and began going through his mind to find the spell of his desire. Unlike Fiona, who felt her spells as musical melodies, Karna felt his as intangible series of numbers and formulae, inscribed, tesselated, like geometric shapes of all different sorts, into a shape the exact size of the pocket within the ring, and stored therein like a bolt within a crossbow, waiting for the casting-words and gestures to initiate firing. He found the spell, and its first words came to his lips even as Mandi neared him.

"Fly!" she cried to him. "To the Temple! If its grounds are unfouled, the beast will not go there!"

"No," he said simply. "I shall hold this thing off for a moment. Then I shall join you. Go!"

Mandi did not have time to think about a response; any hesitation may well have cost her her life. She ran by Karna, and he at once began his spell, even as the fell being came to face him. Karna faced it full in the eyes as the first syllables of his spell burst forth, irresistible in their cadence, impossible to remember, unearthly in their mathematical beauty. The spell was one that took but a few seconds to invoke, and luckily so, for the wraith was just about to strike at Karna even as the last syllable danced off his lips. Karna could feel the unholy power of the thing as it approached, and felt the hunger within it, grasping for his own life-force with its outstretched claws, eager to rip his Elven soul from his body. But Karna raised a finger, and pointed it as a crossbow at the wraith, and with a barely perceptible gesture, he released the spell. A single missile, glowing in its pure magical energy, issued forth from his finger and struck the wraith between the eyes. It paused for a moment and lashed about in anger. The spell had done damage, but it was far from powerful enough to fell the creature. Karna barely sidestepped the claws of the beast as it fell upon him in its wrath, and the Elf turned and fled. His actions had done exactly as he had hoped: they had purchased time enough for the others to escape, and now he could outrun this creature and join them. He just hoped that the Temple would be open.

Idgie had stopped when she heard Mandi and Karna talking. The youngest member of the trio was well ahead of the others by thirty yards, and was just passing the gazebo when she saw Karna turn to face the creature. A second was all that was afforded to her, and in that second, all that she could recall was that Mandi had said that unenchanted weapons were useless against the wraith. In the entire group, exactly one person had a magical weapon: Xenia had the dagger that Roan had given her. Unable to form a coherent thing to shout in that moment, Idgie simply screamed.

Half a moment later, Karna's spell was cast, and Idgie looked on with relief as the spell successfully slowed the wraith for a moment, and Karna was able to elude its grasp. At that moment, Mandi caught up to Idgie, and Idgie took her by the arm to try speeding her up. "Come on!" she called to the taller woman. "To the Temple!" She took one look back and saw that Karna was putting distance between himself and the wraith, and then turned to look forward to the Temple, and ran with all her meager strength.

Fiona and Xenia came from around the corner of the Temple at that very moment, and stood there perhaps thirty yards from Idgie and Mandi. "What's wrong?" called the mage.

"Wraith!" cried Mandi. "The Temple – inside! Now!"

Xenia did not hesitate. She turned to the massive stone doors of the building, took one of the handles and heaved. But the doors would not budge.

Fiona began running through spells within her mind. She had heard tales of what a wraith was, and knew that magic would be their only defense against it. Yet most if not all of her spells, illusions and protections of various sorts, would be useless against felling the creature. If they were to have to fight, they would have but one chance: Xenia's mere dagger.

"Xenia!" cried the mage. "You're the only one who can hurt the thing! You're our only defense if we can't get the doors open!"

Xenia nodded once, and then gave one last Herculean effort at opening the doors; but still they would not give. She turned towards the approaching group just as Mandi and Idgie arrived at the Temple steps, and went to the edge of the steps to await Karna and the wraith behind him. She drew her longsword in her right hand, and took the dagger in the left.

"Use only the dagger," said Mandi and Fiona at the same time, and only the mage continued as Mandi gasped for breath. "Only magic hurts it." Xenia nodded and took up position on the steps.

Karna arrived half a second later, and knew exactly what the plan was. But he had not seen Xenia trying to open the Temple doors, and so at once he ran to them, seized hold of the handle and pulled. He felt a small presence of some sort, an indescribable feeling of happiness and holy power emanating from behind him, and with a sudden surge of magical energy the door to the Temple swung open.

Fiona saw this, and did not even hesitate to consider how he had managed to open the doors when Xenia could not. "Inside!" she shouted, and the five of them ran in, Xenia in the rear taking a position of defense a yard inside the door, preparing to meet the fell being that was now less than five paces from her. Her look of concentration was a wonder to behold: an indefatigable resolve and the strength of years of training, backed by her simple steadfastness. The group looked on anxiously as the wraith reached the staircase, and they watched in abject terror as it mounted the threshold. Fiona held her breath, and Idgie fought back an urge to scream. Karna stood by helplessly, and Mandi, all but spent, stood on the verge of collapse just behind him.

It was just then that there was a rumbling under their feet, and the pristine white marble pillars of the Temple's interior began glowing. The wraith was drawn to a halt, held fast at the temple doorway by some force unseen. It thrashed about, hissing darkly and uttering oaths and curses, but it could not break free: it was held fast. Xenia stepped back from the creature, even as a humming noise filled the air. None of the five of them could tell from which direction the sound was coming: it was an angry noise, and it seemed as if it were coming from all four walls of the Temple at once.

Suddenly, a great peal rang out, as if a vast iron bell were struck by a siege-engine. A great force, as if a great weight had been dropped upon them, smote the group, and all save Xenia dropped to their knees, overwhelmed. There was a crackling noise from the front of the Temple, and suddenly a bolt of pure white energy issued forth from the sanctuary around the Temple's main altar. The light passed over the five adventurers, leaving them unharmed, and it smote the wraith at the doorway where it was still held fast, snarling and hissing. The wraith gave a single shriek before it was smitten into nothingness; not even dust was left in its wake.

The five of them stood or lay there as the rolling peal still echoed throughout the Temple, and the floor still shook with wrath. None of them dared move or even breathe. Slowly, however, with some realizing it more quickly than others, they each came to the same undeniable conclusion.

They had been saved by the Temple itself.

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