Ma signaled the team, her fist raised beside her head as she focused on a cave a few feet up the mountain. It sat on a ledge overhanging a fatal cliffside. All around the entrance, the snow was coated in  various hues of red and brown, suggesting that the monsters were actively coming and going.

Together, Ma, Marcia, and Jonah spoke, “Shrouded in darkness,” the team blended into the shadows, disappearing. Gruff spoke the same spell and watched as his hands blended into the shadow of the cliff. Faintly, he could see Marcia as she passed through a bright area up ahead.

As Gruff entered the cave, his hand shot up to his nose and he pinched it shut firmly. Animal corpses were scattered across the cave floor, while rotting flesh and feces were smeared on the walls.

Worried he might leave footprints in the muck, Gruff spoke, “Cover in shadows, dark pathway.”         

Shadows rose from the corpses, forming a path just above the cave floor. Gruff stepped onto it, walking over the piles of the dead and into a new section of the cave.

It was strangely warm inside despite the lack of light, so Gruff shed his jacket as he ventured further into the cave. His hand gliding against the walls, and he squinted his eyes in the darkness. “Darkness to light.” The letters wrapped around Gruff’s eyes, slowly making the cave more visible.

“Ssss,” Gruff pressed his back against the cave wall as a monster moved around the corner. Its head slunk from side to side with each step it took. His split tongue jutted out repetitively, and his snake-like head glanced around. The monster slithered through the tight space, and Gruff felt his heart pounding as its hand crept mere inches from his face.

The snake-like creature groped the wall, and Gruff shifted to the side. When the monster pressed against a stone, and an enormous door appeared.

The snake clumsily made its way to the door, which opened slowly. Shifting sideways, Gruff forced his way past the monster, entering the surprisingly well-lit room.

Magic drained from him quickly. He shuffled to the side of the chamber underneath the shadow of a small table and took a deep breath as his magic stabilized.

“How were patrols?” asked a monster sitting on a throne. His stomach protruded outward as his last meal squirmed inside his belly.

Gruff glanced around the room. The artifact they sought sat by the throne, mounted on a scepter. His eyes were drawn to it. It glowed brightly, and somehow, it felt familiar. How did something so beautiful make these cold-blooded monsters feel the need to wreak havoc? Gruff wondered. The shimmering crystal orb filled his attention until the monster on the throne bumped the table, making something roll.

Gruff’s attention was drawn to the right of the crystal orb, where he noticed another orb sitting on a table beside the throne. Gruff thought back to his mission. The note had mentioned an orb, but there was no mention of what color it was.

“Boring as always,” the monster answered. “I never have anything to do. The scouts kill all the humans before they make it here.”

“Humans are rather weak, but there is always a chance that Guardians will show up.” The monster on the throne glanced at the two orbs. “We must be cautious.”

“We need not worry about Guardians. I heard they left the Northern Nation long ago. When the Kings of the North ran them out.”

“Fool! Do you really think that the Kings have the power to run out all the Guardians? Do you know how stubborn those do-gooders can be?” The monster glanced at the orbs once more. “Also, they aren’t the only people we need to worry about.”

“Are you on it about that red orb again? I don’t see why you keep it if it’s so dangerous.”

CLANK! The noise drew the attention of every monster as a rotating metal plate rolled around on the floor. The sound grew as the plate spun about, losing just a bit of momentum with each rotation. That’s when Gruff noticed a familiar silhouette.