I woke to the pale light of dawn filtering through the window. Tristan was still asleep beside me, her breathing soft and steady, and her arm draped across my chest. For a moment, I just lay there, watching her peaceful face and remembering our talk, and our kissing, the night before.

What a night. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead, causing her to murmur in her sleep.

I wanted to stay like that all morning, but the sounds of movement outside the house told me I wouldn't get so lucky. Carefully, I disentangled myself from Tristan and slipped out of bed, doing my absolute best not to wake her. When I fumbled with my belt, she stirred a little, but she didn't open her eyes. Instead, she rolled over, so I pulled the blanket up over her shoulders and made my way to the door.

When I slipped out the front door and into the Tower's light, I saw that the Templar camp outside was already bustling. Most of the Templars were up and moving about, and the ones that weren't were at the very least stirring. To my surprise, I spotted Jorn standing next to Maven on the other side of the camp. The pair was hunched over a table and looking at a map of some sort. I made my way over to them.

"Morning," I said as I approached.

Jorn looked up and nodded. "Alex!" He waved at me, but that caused him to teeter. I noticed he was leaning heavily on a wooden cane, and I could see thick bandages wrapped around his left leg. "How'd you sleep, you damn dirty dog?" He was grinning that lecher's grin that only he could make look half-charming. "Or, did you sleep at all?" He waggled his eyebrows like an idiot.

"Well. And it wasn't like that." I wanted to kick his cane out from under him so badly.

He smirked. "Ah, to be young again."

Maven swatted his shoulder. "He said it wasn't like that, you damn lech."

"Sure, sure." He held his hand up in surrender. "Well, looks like you're fairing better than I am, at least. Heard you took down a gloomfang. On your first quest, too. Not bad, my man."

"Thanks." I'd been pretty mixed up about the whole smashing a monster to death with my shield thing, but this morning, I was starting to feel pretty damn great about my achievement. I even dreamt about it. "Honestly, it was kind of epic."

"It's quite the rush, right? I still remember my first. Not quite so great as yours, but three skitterslinks are no joke, let me tell you." He pumped his fist, but that nearly made him topple over.

"Settle down, you damn idiot." Maven seemed grouchy today. "And let's finish the plans."

That's when I noticed they had been scribbling on the map beneath them. There were notes written all over it. "What are you looking at?" I asked, gesturing to the parchment.

Maven glanced up. "Ro-Saleh returned early this morning with a dungeon map of Copperhill. Turns out the place is more extensive than I knew."

I blinked in surprise. "He's back already? How did he get back so quickly?"

Both Jorn and Maven laughed at that. "You haven't seen Ro move when he needs to," Maven said with a grin. "That elf is fast when he puts his mind to it."

"Fast is an understatement," Jorn added, shifting his weight on the cane. "I've seen him cover ground that would take a horse a day in half the time."

Damn. Could I be that fast one day? "Did he see anything on the way?"

They looked at one another. Something passed between them. That wasn't good. Maven spoke first. "I'll let him tell you when you see him." She pointed back at the map. "Luckily, we can use this to map the safest route through the mines. Jorn here is the only one besides Ro-Saleh who's been through the entire mine, so I was picking his brain."

"About time you needed me, you damn shrew."

"Need is a strong word, Jorn."

He huffed.

I looked down at the map. There were several routes drawn in different colored inks. "So, what's the plan?"

"I was thinking we'd sweep each floor one at a time. Floor by floor, room by room. Classic dungeon strategy."

Jorn's face got serious. "I'm telling you, start by going down. If you clear the top level first with a mage down below, they'll wall up before you get to the second floor. The place is a nightmare when that happens. And don't hesitate. Hit hard, and hit fast. Head for the bottom and break their line before they have time to wall up. Then, use their defensive position against them." He pointed at a small room on the third floor. "And that's where Ilan and Voss will be. I'm sure of it. It's the only hidden room in the whole place."

She nodded. "Anything else?"

He scratched at the stubble on his face. "Since you may end up getting pinched, make sure to keep someone strong on either side of the group. Ro-Saleh and Na-Ya in the front, you and maybe Lize in the back." He nodded. "Yeah. That's what I'd do."

Maven wrote a few more notes on the map before rolling it up and securing it with a leather cord. "Then that's what we'll do. Now, we just have to wait for Ro."

"Where's Ro now?" I looked around but didn't see him.

"Ro's sleeping over at Grath's right now."

I realized something. "How did Ro know to grab a map of Coppermine?"

Maven smirked. "I guess you haven't met Claws then?"

I shook my head. "Who's Claws?"

She lifted her fingers to her lips and let out the most piercing whistle I'd ever heard. A moment later, I could hear the flapping of wings overhead, and a moment after that, a massive hawk alighted on Maven's shoulder. "Alex, meet Claws. Claws, Alex."

The bird extended a single wing and did something I could have never expected in my entire life. The bird bowed. Like a human. What the fuck? "Um... Pleasure to meet you, Claws."

The hawk lifted its head and let out the most perfect hawk call I'd ever heard.

Maven scratched its chin. "Who's a good bird? Did you have a nice trip back to the Temple?"

I was ninety-nine percent sure the bird smiled at her compliment, then nodded. With a small shake of my head, I asked, "When will you all leave?"

"When Ro wakes up. A few hours at most. Hopefully less."

I glanced around the camp, noting several injured Templars sitting by the fire. I recognized them as the ones who'd gone with Jorn. "What about the injured? Are they going with you?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"They'll be staying here," Maven replied. "Grath's offered his house while they heal, and they'll help protect you and Tristan while we're gone."

"Can we trust Grath?"

Maven nodded. "I do. He used to be a Templar. Good one, too. Got a woman knocked up and moved back out here. Said he's sad his brother was a bastard, but he knew something was wrong since he moved back. His brother had been distant. Weird."

I frowned. "And we're staying here?"

"Yeah. Jorn'll keep you safe, right Jorn?"

"Ruighff" The man said through a mouthful of something.

"Okay. But are you sure you won't need us? I mean, if Copperhill is more dangerous than expected..."

Maven shook her head firmly. "No. You two have done enough, and frankly, what we're walking into isn't something for recruits like you to handle."

Jorn nodded in agreement, but then winced as he shifted his weight. "Trust me, kid. Sometimes the best thing you can do is stay safe and let the professionals handle it."

"If you're sure."

"I am." Maven's eyes were steel. "I'm heading out for a bit. You two be good, alright?"

"Will do."

"Ma'am."

"What did I say about calling me ma'am, Jorn?"

Before he could answer, I said, "Castration, right?"

She grinned. "Good boy. Tristan's lucky that you're trainable. Take some notes, Jorn." She pointed her fingers at his eyes, then marched away to who knew where.

Turning to Jorn, I said, "Come on. I'll grab us some breakfast, and you can tell me what happened to you."

"Probably for the best if we're staying together." Jorn limped alongside me, his cane tapping against the ground with each step. When we reached the fire, I looked down at his leg. His shin was badly bruised, the skin all purple and black, but whatever healing he'd received looked like it had knitted the flesh together cleanly.

When he sat, I walked past and grabbed some porridge that the other Templars had set out. Returning, I handed him a bowl and sat next to him. "Looks painful."

"It is," he admitted. "I'll be down for a bit, but I'll live."

Scooping a mouthful of porridge into my mouth, I waited for him to say more, but nothing else came. I realized he might be ashamed of getting injured like he had. "You doing okay?"

He sighed. "Guess I'm getting rusty." He stared into the fire, hardly touching his food. "Don't feel quite as spry as I used to."

"So what happened out there?"

Jorn was quiet for a moment, then he sighed. "I almost lost my leg. And I was the best of the bunch. Hell, I thought Pawel was going to die. Had to carry the kid on my back with my leg damn near cracked in half."

"I'm sorry, man." Slapping him on the back, I said, "So, what got you guys? I heard it was some villagers, but it's hard to believe villagers could do all that."

He frowned. "When we were on our patrol, we cut pretty far south. Thought I heard something, so we kept going further. Once we went far enough, I figured Fairbrook isn't that far away, so I decided we'd check it out, too. Everything seemed normal. A bit quiet, but normal. After we'd circled the village and started back, though, that's when they showed up," his voice lowered. "At first, I didn't think much of it. Villages can be suspicious of outsiders, especially when people have been going missing. But when I hailed them, I thought something seemed off. They didn't seem like scared villagers to me." He paused to take a bite of his breakfast, chewing slowly as if gathering his thoughts.

"What happened next?"

Swallowing, he said, "They acted like rabid animals," he continued. "Came at us with farming tools, kitchen knives, whatever they could find. When I tried to talk them down, tried to explain who we were, they just... didn't listen. It was like they couldn't hear us."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "That doesn't sound normal."

"It wasn't." Jorn's voice was grim. "They were far stronger than they should have been, too. I've seen farmers before. Shit, I was one. We're tough, sure, but not 'take a mace to the face' tough. These people were throwing us around like we were hay bales."

"Damn."

"Yeah, and when they died, they melted. Almost like monsters, but not. No crystals. Too much gore." He looked at me directly. "Alex, I've been a Templar for fifteen years. I've never seen anything like it. And I hope I don't see it again." I realized the man was shaken to the core.

Before I could respond, I heard Ro-Saleh's voice calling out across the camp. I looked up to see the sun elf walking toward us, looking tired but alert. His gear was already strapped on, and despite the clear fatigue written on his face, he moved with his usual fluid grace.

"Hey," he said simply, settling down beside me on the log.

"Hey, Ro. Maven said you made good time getting back."

He looked at Jorn. "Mind giving us a moment, Jorn?"

The man shoveled some porridge into his mouth and stood up. "See you later, kid." He limped away.

Ro waited until Jorn was out of earshot. "I got back fast because I had motivation." He reached into his pack and pulled out a simple silver ring. Before I could ask what it was, he slipped it onto my finger. The metal was warm to the touch, and the ring immediately resized to fit my finger perfectly.

"What is this?" I asked, examining the ring. It looked plain enough, being a simple silver band with a couple inscriptions on it, but I could feel something coming from it.

"[Ring of Detect Lies]," Ro answered. "Don't lose it. It's Arden's, and it's very expensive. Like, a Baron's castle worth of crystals expensive."

I looked at my finger again. It suddenly felt very heavy. "Why?"

"Arden said he wanted you to have it."

"What for?"

"We want you to talk to everyone here while we're gone. See if you can find anything out. Something's not right here, and we need to know what."

And they wanted us to stay here? "You think someone else in town is involved?"

"I don't know. But I want to be sure." He paused, his expression growing dark. "The village to the south, Fairbrook... it was completely empty when I went back through last night. But Jorn said he got attacked last night after I went through."

I felt a shiver run down my spine. "Empty? What do you mean empty?"

"I mean, there were no people," Ro said quietly. "Houses were intact, belongings still there, animals about, but not a single person. Like they all just... vanished."

"What happened to them?"

Ro's jaw tightened. "I don't know. But as I left, something chased me. I couldn't see what it was clearly, but they were fast. Not as fast as me, but not much slower either, and that's saying something. They followed me halfway to the Temple before breaking off near Fernferry."

"But that's halfway to the Temple."

"Yeah."

I couldn't help but shake my head. "How'd you get back, then? Wouldn't they attack you on the way back?"

He reached back into his pack and pulled out several small vials filled with red liquid. "When I got to the Temple, Arden and I talked. Then, he let me use a [Teleportation Scroll]. That's how I got back here so quickly. Even I'm not that fast." He pressed the vials into my hands. "These are some good ones from Galden. [Greater Healing Potions]. Keep them close and use them sparingly."

I pocketed the potions. "Ro, what do you think is happening here?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "But when Claws showed up and gave us Maven's note, Arden said he knew that symbol you found on the chief's ring. He said it's from some group called the Hands of the Fallen. He didn't know much about them, but they're some cult of shadow worshippers that popped up a decade ago. Word was they'd been defeated a while back, but it looks like the rumors were wrong. More worrying is that they're operating right under our noses."

Hands of the Fallen, huh? "What do we do if we get in too deep?"

He shook his head. "Don't know. Wish I did. The problem is, with whatever's out there in the woods, we can't march back, and Arden only had one teleportation scroll. We can't leave Voss and Ilan to die, either, so we're stuck."

"I don't know if I can fight monsters like that alone."

He looked me up and down. "I heard what you did at the mine. If anything happens here, fight like you fought then. Dig deep and find that strength."

I didn't know if I could, but I'd have to try. "I'll try."

Nodding, he stood and looked around the camp. "Break down camp!" he called out to the other Templars. "We march in thirty minutes!"

The camp exploded into activity as the Templars began packing their gear.

Ro turned back to me. "Be careful, Alex. Don't trust anyone that ring tells you not to. We'll be back as soon as we can." He turned and began helping the others pack.

Within half an hour, the Templars were packed and ready to move. I watched from my seat as they formed up into a traveling formation. Ro took point, with Maven and Na-Ya flanking him. The other Templars fell in behind, their gear clanking softly as they began their march back to Copperhill.

I stood there watching until they crested the hill with the tree on it and disappeared from sight. That's when I heard the door open nearby.

"Alex?" Tristan's voice was soft and sleepy. I turned to see her standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Her hair was a mess, and she looked adorably confused. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Copperhill," I said, standing and walking back toward her. "Ro came back early with a map of the dungeon. They left to clear it out properly and bring Voss and Ilan home."

She nodded, still looking half-asleep. "And we're staying here?"

"We're staying here." I slipped my arm around her waist and guided her back inside. "Come on. Let me make you some breakfast, and I'll tell you what Jorn and Ro told me."

As we walked back into the house, I felt the weight of the ring on my finger and the potions in my pocket.

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