After some scrubbing in Faye's barrel, we smelled far, far better than we had minutes before. As much as taking a quick bath mid-quest seemed a bit frivolous at first, I realized those rat monsters had to have been riddled with nasty shit none of us needed to catch, so I was grateful for the break and the opportunity to get cleaned up. But now, it was time.

We had a dungeon to clear.

"Alright, team. You all ready?"

"Tch." Vral was standing at the edge of the light, twirling her daggers and glaring at me. She'd pulled her wet hair back into a messy bun, and her skin was still slick from the water. "Just wait, asshole. I'm coming for you."

I winked at her. "Oh, I'm counting on it."

From her face to the tips of her ears, Vral turned bright red. "T-that's n-not what—"

"Don't worry, Vral. I know what you meant." Tristan stalked toward me, her hips swaying with every step. Pressing her lips to my jaw, she murmured, "You'd better keep one eye open at night, mister. We'll both be coming for you."

Vral sputtered violently.

I felt my cheeks get hot. She'd gotten so assertive... it was beyond hot. I kissed her and said, "I'm terrified."

The priestess gave me a coquettish smile. "Oh, you should be."

"Tristan..." Na-Ya was blushing beside her cousin.

Vral's eyes had begun gleaming in the darkness. "Um... we need to finish this quest now. Like, right now."

"Gross." Faye pretended to gag. "You all will be home soon enough. Keep it in your pants, team."

"What?" Tristan batted her eyes at the Hero. "It's my job as Vral's future ilthán to have her back, no matter what."

The Hero sighed. "It's like traveling with Elowen and Dorian all over again."

"Elowen and Dorian?" I asked.

"My late party members. The assholes couldn't keep their hands off one another. It was every damn night! 'Oh, we're getting a little tired, time to tuck in,' or 'the night air's getting nippy. I guess we need to go back to our tents now.' Horndogs, the both of them." Faye's eyes grew distant as she continued her grumbling.

"So where to, fearless leader?" Tristan's eyes were sparkling at me in the dim glowstone light.

Shaking the images of what we'd be doing when we got back to Khozad'thar out of my head, I did my best to focus. Concentrating as best I could, I reached into my inventory to retrieve my map. Watching as my fingers disappeared, I reached around, trying to find any of the things I'd put in my inventory, but nothing was there.

"Faye, how do I pull stuff out?"

"Just think about the item you want, and it'll come to you."

"Got it." I focused my mind. Pulled deep. Concentrated as deeply as I could... and...

Nothing.

"Uh—"

"Keep trying. It's easier to put stuff in than take it out at first, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."

"Okay." I stretched my fingers. Cracked my neck. Worked my shoulders.

Map.

I needed my map.

Come onnnnn, map.

Still nothing.

New tactic. "Map." My voice echoed down the tunnel. "Come on, map. Come to me."

More nothing.

"Map!" I visualized it in as much detail as I could...

Nothing!

I closed my eyes. "MAP!"

"You okay over there?"

I opened my eyes to find Na-Ya smirking at me. "Ass."

"What?" She pretended to act all innocent, but she knew what she was doing. "I was just asking."

"You're picking on me in your head."

"Am not."

"Are too!" I stuck my chin up. "Be nice. I'm practically family."

"I'm always nice."

"Pssh, that's a facade, and you know it."

"Nuh-uh." She chuckled. "And I already treat you like you're my family, because you are. We're edán now."

My heart clenched. Ro had started calling me his brother and his edán after my stay in the Pit, but Na-Ya never really had. Hearing it out loud hit my heart hard.

However, as flattered as I was, I couldn't let her taunting stand. "Don't you act like calling me your edán absolves you of your crimes against me!"

"Ugh!" She clutched her chest, pretending I'd wounded her heart. "So heartless... You rejected my expression of familial love!"

"Familial sass, more like."

"Well, I never!" She doubled over and squeezed her eyes shut. "The heartbreak!"

"Be nice..." Tristan nudged her cousin.

Na-Ya cracked an eye. "I mean, he is standing there with his arm outstretched like a dope and saying map over and over. Can you blame me for picking on him?"

"Uh... No, not really. He did look pretty silly."

It was my turn to clutch at my heart. "Et tu, Tristan-té?"

She looked at me like I had three heads. "Huh?"

Faye snorted. "Shakespeare? Really, Alex?"

I shrugged. "It just came out."

"Who's Shakespeare?" Tristan's voice was so pure.

"Uh, he was this old playwright from—" Before I could finish the thought, something fell into my palm. Squeezing the object, I could tell it was the laminated vellum of the [Pathfinder's Map]. "Got it!"

"About damn time," Vral grumbled. "We need to get home."

Unfurling the map, I placed the skitterslink hat back on the page and watched as the words at the top of the page returned to saying "Copperhold." As the lines making up the dungeon walls reappeared on the page, I could see the areas we'd uncovered so far, which included basically all of the western half of the dungeon. The remaining white space gave the general shape and size of the missing areas, which were slightly smaller than the areas we'd covered thus far. By following the tunnels, it was relatively easy to see the path we needed to take.

It wasn't exactly surprising, considering there were only two paths to take at the entrance, but I was glad to double-check. The map provided a detailed overhead view of the dungeon, and it did a good job at showing areas we'd missed. Before going east, I figured it'd be wise to clear this half of the dungeon first. It was better to be safe than sorry, right?

"Alright, crew, there are a few nearby tunnels we should check out. After that, it looks like we need to head back to the entrance. Sound good?"

As one, my entire team's demeanor shifted. Everyone went from playful family members to professionals in the blink of an eye and fell into line.

"Let's move out!"

***

After a quick search of the tunnels we'd missed in the western half of the dungeon, which were mostly filled with the ashes of skitterslinks and a few crystals, we made our way back to the first crossroads we'd found near the entrance. From there, we entered the eastern tunnel and walked to the northeast for roughly a hundred paces before the tunnel turned north.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Just like the other side of the dungeon, the first section of the tunnel was plain carved stone, just like what you'd expect in a mine. After that, the tunnel became smooth, unworked stone that almost looked like the inside of a lava tube. Past that, the tunnel opened up into a wide cavern before shrinking back into a small tunnel, which descended downward at a sharp angle. Shortly after that, the lines on my [Pathfinder's Map] shifted, and the words at the top of the page changed to read "Copperhold: Level Two."

At first glance, the second level of Copperhold was largely comprised of winding, natural-looking tunnels. They snaked and wound through one another, making navigation tricky. Even with the map, we had to double back several times after taking a wrong turn. However, beyond the difficult navigation, there weren't any clear threats. The holes in the walls made by the skitterslinks had vanished, too, so there wasn't much risk of getting ambushed. It was a little surprising, but I was grateful for the reprieve.

Still, we remained cautious. Slowly, and with as much care and caution as we could muster, we continued through the winding tunnels. The farther we went, the less glowstone light was available. Before long, we were forced to use magic again. That, plus the cold, made the second floor feel more desolate than the first.

"Hey, want me to scout?" Vral appeared on my left and was looking up at me.

"Sure. But if you find anything, double back, alright?" Thinking on it, I added, "And leave me something of yours."

"Why?"

"That way, I can find you with the map if we get separated."

"Oh, makes sense." She reached into her vest and pulled out a throwing dagger. "Here."

I took it and placed it into my inventory. "Perfect." Leaning over, I kissed her forehead and said, "Have fun."

She touched her forehead for a long moment and sighed. "Um..." For a few seconds, I watched as some conflict took place behind her eyes. But, slowly, one side won, and she whispered, "I, um... I want..." Tilting her head up, she closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

I couldn't help but smile. She really was getting better about communicating her needs. Leaning over, I kissed her deeply, savoring the feel of her lips on mine.

She moaned softly as our tongues brushed, and only pulled away when someone behind us sneezed. "T-thanks."

I bit her ear, which elicited a growl from the goblin's throat, and said, "Be safe, love."

A broad grin spread across her face. "I will." Her daggers appeared in her hands, and she vanished up the tunnel.

After that, we continued onward. The further we went, the more the side tunnels disappeared, leaving us walking down the single path forward. It snaked left and right dramatically, looped back on itself, and at several points, it even went up and down, with one section going so low that we had to wade through chest-deep, milky white water.

However, despite the chaos that came before, after we crossed the underground river, the tunnel straightened out and began to look more and more like a mine again. By the time we came to the next crossroads, I didn't think anyone could tell it was any different than the Galden mines.

Looking either way, I tried to find any sign of Vral. Aside from a few muddy footprints to the north, I didn't see much sign of her. "Vral?"

"Where is she?" Tristan said as she did the same. "I wish she wouldn't go so far."

"Vral?" I called down the tunnel to the north.

"She sure could have come back and told us about that river." Na-Ya squeezed milky water from her pants.

"Vral!"

No response.

"Hey, Vral!" This time, I called to the south.

"Hey!" Vral's voice echoed back to us from up ahead. The little goblin appeared at the edge of the light and waved for us to follow. "Come this way. I found something."

"Coming." While walking south, we found several mid-sized rooms that were set into the tunnel. Most had ancient, rusty doors set into their frames, but many of them had fallen from their hinges at some point in the past.

"I remember this section," Ro said beside me. "It was on the first floor before."

"Yeah, this was where we fought that big wave of undead." Na-Ya looked into each of the rooms with clear interest. "That spear got Maven in the thigh in one of these rooms."

Ro began searching the walls between the rooms. "Not this one... not this one, either. Was it even on this side?" He turned and looked across the hallway. "It was that one!" Ro pointed at a streak of brown dots on the floor. "There's her blood."

"Huh." It was wild how whole sections of the dungeon could move around like that.

"Come on, dummies!" Vral was waving us over. "Hurry up!"

When we caught up to her, Vral had her hands on her hips and a proud grin on her face.

'What is it?"

"It's good, I promise." Sauntering forward, she guided us farther up the tunnel, past several open archways that led into more of those empty rooms. As we approached one of the rooms on the right, she pointed through the archway and toward a small patch of faintly glowing moss that covered the entire southwest corner of the room. Looking up at me, she grinned and said, "Shimmermoss."

"Shimmermoss?" The light emanating from the blue-green patches was faint, but it was enough to illuminate the room in a soft glow. "What's that?"

"Shimmermoss," Vral repeated, this time with a little more authority. "You know? Filled with mana. Mages love it. Fetches a great price with alchemists."

"Is it safe?"

"Yeah. Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Well, I think it's shimmermoss. But it might be blightweed. I need your help to figure out which it is."

"You don't know?"

"It's hard to tell unless you get close. One sparkles, and the other attacks you."

"And you waited for me to get attacked?"

"Well, yeah. You told me to be safe, so I waited for you."

"Fair enough." She actually listened. There was a first time for everything.

Walking into the room, I approached the stuff cautiously, shield forward and sword raised. When I got close enough, I prodded it several times with my sword, but when nothing happened, I leaned forward for a closer look. When my nose got close, I was hit with a smell that was some kind of cross between cloves and dirt. It was a rather nice smell. "Smells good."

She walked up next to me and sheathed her daggers. "So it is shimmermoss."

A thought occurred to me then. If we ever did find that alchemist, having a rare herb like this might be a good way to butter him up a bit. There was no reason to believe he'd trust us when we found him. If we ever found him. After months of searching, I was losing hope that he was even in Istaera anymore. But, on the off chance that he was, a few gifts couldn't hurt.

"Good idea. Let's take some."

"Some?" Vral pulled out one of her daggers. "We're taking it all, dummy." She started cutting at the top corner of the moss, slowly working her dagger under the thick sheet of plant material. "What took you all so long, anyway?" With one deft movement, she peeled away a thin strip of the stuff and placed it on the ground.

Before I could respond, Na-Ya grumbled, "You could have come back and told us about that underground river, you know." Walking up beside us, she added, "It was cold."

"Why'd you get wet?" She looked up, her red eyes glowing in the dim light. "You should've run along the wall like I did."

"Not everyone can do that, Vral."

"Sounds like a you problem."

Na-Ya shook her head and started squeezing more water from her robes.

Turning to the others, I said, "Vral's going to harvest this shimmermoss. In the meantime, let's look around, and I'll check the map."

Ro, Na-Ya, and Tristan all began snooping around the room.

As they did, I pulled out the map and watched as new lines appeared on the page. First, the long, windy tunnel appeared, then the crossroads and the hallway we were in. Each of the rooms we'd passed came next, and finally, the room we were standing in bled onto the page, forming around our five dots.

Luckily, there were still no skitterslink tunnels snaking through the walls, unlike on the top floor. The thing was, though... The map showed the beginning of two thin lines extending out from the south wall and into the white space beyond. It almost looked like a room should be there, but it wasn't visible.

"Hey, guys, check out the south wall." I pointed to the wall. "I think there might be a room or passage behind it."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and walked to the southern wall.

"I don't see anything," Tristan said, running her hand along the rough surface.

"Me neither." Na-Ya knocked on the wall with her knuckles, listening for any hollow sounds.

Ro went down onto his hands and knees and checked the floor near the base of the wall. "I think the map might be right." He ran a finger along the wall where it met the floor. "I can feel air coming through the bottom."

"Keep looking," I said, studying the map more closely. Those faded lines definitely indicated something was there, even if we couldn't see it yet.

"Found it!" Ro's voice echoed through the room as his fingers pressed against what looked like an ordinary stone jutting out from the wall near the floor. "I think this is a lever. It's shaped like a rock, but it moves."

We all gathered around as Ro traced the outline of the cleverly disguised mechanism. Even knowing where it was, it was still difficult to see. The only real tell was that the stone was slightly more rectangular than the others around it, and there was the faintest gap around its edges.

"Should I press it?" Ro looked up at me.

I shrugged. "Team vote?"

Everyone voted to go for it.

"Press away, brother."

With a grunt, Ro pushed down on the stone lever. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a grinding sound that set my teeth on edge, a section of the wall began to slide inward, revealing a dark passage beyond.

The passage was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side, and it sloped downward at a steep angle. Cold air rushed out from the opening, carrying with it the smell of wet, damp earth and something metallic.

I pulled out the map again and watched as new lines began to sketch themselves onto the page. The tunnel descended for what looked like a considerable distance before reaching the edge of the map.

"I'm pretty sure it goes to the third level," I said, studying the new lines that had appeared.

"How much of the second level is left?" Tristan asked, peering over my shoulder at the map.

I traced the unexplored sections with my finger. "Looks like maybe a quarter of it? Hard to say for sure, but I'm thinking that's about right."

"We should make sure to clear this floor first," Ro said. "We don't want to leave anything behind us that could cut off our retreat."

"Agreed." Na-Ya nodded firmly. "Plus, there might be some equipment or gear to find. I'd hate to pass something good up."

"And I'm not done harvesting yet!" Vral called from her corner, not even looking up from her work. Another strip of shimmermoss peeled away from the wall and joined the growing pile at her feet. "This is going to be worth a fortune."

"Fair enough. Let's close the tunnel back up and come back after we've cleared the rest of this level."

"How do we close it?" Tristan asked.

Ro was already examining the mechanism. "Should be another lever inside. Yeah, here it is." He pointed to a matching stone protrusion on the inner wall of the passage. Giving the inner level a push, there was a loud grinding sound as the wall slid back into place, sealing the passage once more.

I couldn't help but marvel at the secret door. From the outside, you'd never know it was there. Also, it was all so freaking awesome! This was a real dungeon! We were on a quest! This was real life!

After indulging in my excitement for a few minutes, I turned to the others and said, "Alright, team, let's finish clearing this floor. Then we'll come back and see what's waiting for us down below."

"You all go do that," Vral said as she pulled another sheet of shimmermoss off the wall. "I'll keep at this. There's not much left."

"Sounds good. If you hear anything, run, alright?"

"You got it, boss."

Nodding, I turned and walked out of the room with the others. As we continued up the tunnel toward the areas we hadn't explored yet, I couldn't help but wonder what was waiting for us down on the third level. Was it going to be empty like this one, or would it make everything we'd faced so far look like a warm-up? I had no idea, and the not knowing nagged at me.

But that was a problem for future Alex. Right then, we had a floor to clear.

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