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He stopped talking to cast another orb into the air.

“The king strengthened his kingdom, mobilizing his army that used the magic stones to overthrow and expand their borders. The dwarves had become displeased with their alliance and invited the king into the mines in hopes of renegotiating the terms of their treaty. The king and his men would be the first outsiders that were permitted entry in hundreds of years. The king, all smiles, thanked them for their hospitality, but used this as an opportunity to wipe out the dwarves. He poisoned and killed all of them. Among the crystals, he found something the dwarves had hidden. It was a seal that gave the crystals magic. Not knowing of the consequences, the king removed the seal, which caused all the crystals to lose their power. Fuelled by rage, he forbade entry to this tomb and to this day it has remained forbidden for outsiders to enter. Only a few people know the entry's incantation. Luckily, you’re travelling with me.” He smirked at the group.

They had descended to the lower levels of the mines and came across a long crystal bridge that led across the pit.

Lilith looked around. This place was a never-ending maze of stairs and bridges, but there were no more signs of the life that once filled this space.

Locke navigated them through this maze for what seemed like hours.

They stopped to eat in one of the lower buildings.

It was a store of some kind. Empty shelves covered in thick cobwebs and a small counter lined with delicate necklaces each holding a small crystal.

Lilith ate her meal of cheese, bread and cured meats quickly so she could look around.

While the others were still eating, she walked to the counter and picked up one of the necklaces.

A delicate chain of silver held a pinkish crystal.

She cradled it in her hand and brought it closer, listening to the faint hum that seemed to vibrate in her palm.

"What did you find?" said Locke as he leaned over her to look at her hand. Quickly, she dangled the necklace in front of her.

"This necklace is beautiful," she replied, turning to face him.

"You should take it as a memento of this adventure," urged Locke as he inspected the pink crystal.

"Such beauty requires an equally alluring owner.

" Lilith blushed as he continued, "It shows a rare resilience- both gentle, yet unyielding.

" Her mouth parted at his words and her heart fluttered wildly.

She wanted to say something back at him, one of her usual snarky retorts, but her reply was stuck in her throat.

Instead she tucked the necklace into her backpack and looked over to Locke, who was looking at the rest of the display.

He was weaving himself in her heart and part of her was letting him in.

Felicia and Silver were smirking at her, they had seen that intimate interaction.

"You know there is really few reason why you should deny yourself a possibility of happiness," whispered Felicia, as they packed up their things and headed back out.

Lilith was muttering to herself when Locke held up his hand. His orb was fading above them.

“Shh,” he whispered to the group. His lit sword dulled to a dim glow. He motioned for the others to copy.

They quickly listened and stood in darkness. Silver stowed his orb in his cloak pocket. There was a faint rumble. It was a rhythmic grumbling that ever so lightly shook the ground.

“Footsteps,” Silver whispered to them. He pressed his ear to the ground.

The rumbling became stronger, shaking them.

They looked frantically around trying to spot what was the source of the quake.

It was hard to spot in the seemingly black place.

Felicia whipped her head to the left of them and raised her pointed finger.

In the far distance there was a large pitch black shadow moving through the pit.

Lilith's eyes strained, but she finally spotted the dark figure and released a quiet breath. The shadow and the rumbling stopped.

“Move,” whispered Locke. He quietly set off using his mana to form a shield over them and muffle their steps.

The rumbling started again, this time with more force.

The dark creature was on the move, heading towards them.

Moving up and down stairs in darkness, the group stumbled through the tomb.

Lilith slipped on the stairs and began falling into the pit.

She felt the loss of connection under her feet.

This is it. This is my end, Lilith thought to herself.

There were so many things she wanted to do.

She wanted to see her brothers and her father, she wanted to follow the prince, and she wanted revenge for her magic being bound.

She wanted to find Lord Elwin and make him suffer.

All of her dreams flashed through her mind as her body leaned into the air.

Her eyes found Locke's, a look of pure panic was reflected in his.

A hand quickly grabbed her and hauled her up.

"Don't let go!" Silver grunted, as he pulled her to safety.

She was shaking and mouthed her thanks to Silver for saving her.

He patted her on the shoulder. There was no time to stop and catch her breath, they had to keep moving.

Locke paused as they entered a room with a row of columns.

They would not make it at this slow pace.

He cast a fiery orb into the air. A loud unearthly growl echoed around them.

It was close. Lilith looked behind her. The shadow became larger until it finally caught the light and exposed the creature. Felicia screamed behind Lilith.

It was a beast of fire. It towered several stories above them and it had two heads, one similar to that of a lion.

The other was a goat with long spiralled horns.

The eyes of the creature glowed a blood red.

It stood on its hind legs and flicked out a long scaled tail that ended with the head of a snake.

“A Khimaira!” yelled Locke above the beast's roar. The lion’s head unhinged its jaws revealing a twisting vortex of fire in its mouth. Lilith felt a pull sucking her in .

“Get behind the columns!” Locke yelled. Lilith struggled to move her legs.

It was as if they were walking through deep sand.

They made it behind the safety of the columns as the Khimaira sprayed out an explosion of fire.

They shielded themselves with ice, rebuilding the layers that were rapidly melting.

As soon as the fire ceased they made a break for it.

Locke led them towards a set of stairs that went up.

He had just passed a column when the beast slammed its tail into it, shattering the green crystal.

Locke faced the black viper head on. It hissed and unleashed its fangs.

As it pounced its head forward, Locke dodged sideways, drawing up his longsword.

He struck downwards, but the sword clanged against the impenetrable scales of the tail.

Sparks flew off as his sword slid off the creature.

The snake tail recoiled, disappearing behind the column.

Lilith was sure that the tail would sever under the might of Locke's strike.

The aura pulsing off of him made her stomach clench, and from Silver and Felicia's expression, they too were feeling something similar.

"We have to run!" Locke yelled above the sound of the beast growling. "I'll draw it away. Make for the pass ahead." Drawing up even more mana, Locke faced the beast head on. He released a blast of fire that was so immense in strength, Lilith froze behind Silver.

"Move Lilith!" Silver tugged on Lilith's arm. The group sprinted to the stairs that led them to a corridor, but before going through, Lilith paused and drew out her dagger.

“Lilith, what are you doing? It will be here any second!” Silver yelled at her, as she scratched her dagger into the wall.

She sheathed her dagger and rejoined the group.

As they ascended out of the mine pit, they heard a boom of the Khimaira breaking through the passageway that they had come from.

Lilith looked behind her, staring into the mines.

Locke was on their heels, his eyes were wild with energy.

The beast paced back and forth, growling.

Having lost its prey, the goat opened its mouth releasing a piercing scream.

Everything around them shook. Around them spider web cracks formed through the green crystal walls.

The group crouched down and covered their ears.

Lilith let loose her own scream and her ears felt like they would burst. She felt something dripping between her fingers.

The scream stopped, but the ringing of their ears continued.

Looking down at her hands, she spotted the drops of blood that came from her ears.

A sharp tug pulled her to a standing position.

Lilith looked at the group. Everyone’s faces were pale and had similar lines of blood draining from their ears.

Felicia pointed upwards and unsheathed her dagger to use as a torch.

Nodding her head in understanding, Lilith drew out her sword and flared it to life.

Her ears rang as the group moved upwards.

They paused as they made it to a large crack in one of the jagged mountain walls.

Before they entered, Felicia took out little purple vials of Gertwood.

She handed one to everyone, uncorking her own vial and tipping the contents into her mouth.

The others followed her and downed the purple restorative substance.

It took a few moments for the ringing to stop and for Lilith’s hearing to come back.

“What exactly was that back there?” Silver asked, wiping the blood from his ears.

“A Khimaira,” Locke repeated. “An ancient she-beast from a time before mankind walked this earth.” Lilith had heard of this creature from one of her father’s many books .

“I thought they were myths,” Lilith stated. “I remember hearing a story about them. They were servants of one of the old gods. A creature of pure destruction.”

Locke added, “The old god that birthed such a creature was defeated by the other gods. To my understanding, the Khimaira was slayed and its image became an omen of misfortune.” He gazed into the pit below them. “Why is it here?” he muttered to himself.

“We need to keep moving. Who knows what else hides here,” Silver said as he put on his pack.

“I doubt we will encounter any other creature. They would have been hunted by that beast,” Lilith said, reassuring the group.

Moving single file through the long narrow space, they were surrounded by crystals.

In front of them, beyond the crack, was a strange light casting a warm glow through the walls.

Lilith, who was walking last in the group, ran her fingers over the crystals.

That same humming sound surrounded her. A buzzing settled over her skin, one that she was sure only she could feel.

Again her chest felt a strange magnetic pull towards the jutting crystals.

She could have sworn her mana was draining into a large red gem.

The red crystal pulsed to life beneath her fingertips and she let out a quick gasp then removed her hand.

The group turned to look at her with raised weapons, ready to fight what had caused her surprise.

To their eyes, the crystals were dormant and there were no signs of life around them.

“I thought I heard something,” she said to them.

They all stood in silence, listening for movement, but were met with stillness.

After the run in with the beast, they dreaded encountering something else.

Maybe it was a trick of the eye? Lilith wondered.

Felicia, who was in front of her, reached out to touch the red gem.

It remained inactive, but shimmered in the light of their flames.

“Be careful,” she warned Lilith, and turned to march forward.

The others shook their heads and continued through the narrow passage towards the warm glowing light.

They squeezed through the space into a gigantic hot cave.

A river of lava gently flowed in a chasm far below them, peeking up from a crack in the ground.

There were glowing stalactites jutting from the ceiling mixed with more crystals.

They moved along a trail that wrapped around the edge of the cave.

Dark vines weaved through the rough stone, bringing some greenery into the space.

A small hole close to the ceiling filtered sunlight into the dark space.

“We will need to make camp for the night. There should be a space up ahead that would serve well for us,” Locke hollered to the group.

Sweat was clinging to them, soaking their warm clothes.

They frequently drank from their water canisters, dispelling the hot air, and used their water magic to cool themselves.

For hours, they continued to carefully navigate the cave.

Locke seemed confident in leading them and eventually pointed to a levelled space.

“Here we are.” He moved through an archway of long stalactites.

There was a wide shelf made of smooth light brown stone, big enough for them to space out and sleep.

In front of them was a vast steaming pool of glowing water.

They were far enough away from the cracks of lava that it felt mildly cooler.

“We can sleep here for the night. There is a small stream of cold freshwater around the corner that we can use to replenish our canisters. The water from this pool is too hot to drink.”

Silver squinted his eyes. “How do you know so much of this place? It’s a maze, yet you lead us confidently through it.”

Locke reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace with a round coin.

“It’s embedded with clairvoyant magic. Similar to Felicia’s ring.

It’s been guiding us, though its magic can only be seen by my eyes.

There were also parts of the mines that I remember when I was younger and my father had showed me some places.

" That explanation squashed any of Silver’s suspicion.

They unbuckled their packs and set them on the clearing beside the pool.

“You said to not drink from the pool. Is it safe to go in?” Lilith asked Locke. He set his pack down and went to the pool's edge.

“The steam coming from it indicates that it’s heated from the nearby lava.

” He dipped his hand in. “Looks safe to me.” She waited, watching his wet hand for any signs of malaise.

“From what my father said, this is one of the hot springs that was used by the dwarves back in the day. Let’s get settled in. ”