Before venturing deeper, the group rested in the big cavern. As soon as the equipment was removed from the place, it was actually very spacious. Except for several pillars that rose to the darkness above them, the rest of the space was made up of flat stone blocks. Dreu could only imagine what sort of reception the dwarves had for those visiting. The group rested while the bats explored deeper into the mountain. From an earlier scouting session, the bats already determined that the dwarves dug very deep so there was a lot of ground to cover. They would go out and only return once they were fatigued or had something urgent to report. Since it has been a while, Dreu assumed that nothing significant had showed up yet.

  In the meantime, he had time to admire the incredible craftsmanship of the dwarves. They not only managed to dig out most of the mountain but they also built stairs, rooms and many things that rivaled what one expected in a palace. There were countless rooms but, due to their urgency of getting stronger, he only cared about the armory where he wanted to see what the dwarves left behind. He also had never been in the presence of a dwarf before and, if the bats returned with no news, then he might never meet one ever in his life.

  “There’s something lurking deeper in the mountain,” said Olgron suddenly. “I wasn’t able to identify the scent earlier but it definitely isn’t coming from the mountain itself.”

  “I wonder if Bartok and the others will find it,” replied Dreu as he summoned his sword and shield, his two prizes from his training. “Let’s not get complacent when we know danger might be around the corner.”

  Dreu summoned Zog, Aggich and Ilveroz to bolster their numbers. For the time being, he didn’t want them to grow too big in numbers as that would make them easier to be detected by whatever was lurking in the depths.

  Too bad all of us except for the bats are still terrible at fighting underground.

  The young man hadn’t enjoyed fighting with the snakes who had the advantage of knowing the terrain and not needing light. If there were stronger foes who were also adept at underground fighting, then even the honey badgers might not be sufficient in fending off their enemies. Loryss returned from one of the tunnels and landed on his shoulder.

  I spotted some undead creatures roaming one of the tunnels. Not sure what they are looking for but they are all heavily armed.

  "Undead? A necromancer here?" exclaimed Dreu.

  Fighting the dead certainly wasn’t what the young man had in mind. There was a reason why human adventurers stayed away from necromancers. The fact that these spellcasters grew stronger with each enemy slain made them nearly invincible as nothing could get close to them. In the underground tunnels where there was even less room to maneuver, fighting undead soldiers would be tedious at best or deadly in the worst case scenario. They would all tire out before any of them got past all the undead to reach the spellcaster.

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  “If this is a powerful necromancer,” said Olgron, “even I don’t have confidence I would have enough stamina to outlast its soldiers. We can always search for a different part of the mountain for weapons and equipment.”

  Dreu was debating the idea when Bunted came back.

  “I heard combat somewhere deeper,” said the bat. “The undead soldiers were fighting something and there doesn’t seem to be a clear winner.”

  The safer approach would be to abandon the cave and let the undead creatures fight the other danger lurking underground. Yet, the young man wanted to know what the necromancer wanted so bad to come this deep underground.

  If it’s that powerful, can we afford to let the necromancer get even stronger?

  What Dreu didn’t want to admit was that his curiosity was getting the better of him. Since they fled the demon realm and after his training with the alchemy furnace and forge, he had been bored out of his mind. Comparing the forest to all the places he had been, it had been a night and day experience. He didn’t have to worry about danger as there hadn’t been any indication anyone was even following them. He didn’t even get to use his new sword and shield outside of training exercises.

  “Let’s go help whoever is foolish enough to fight the necromancer,” said Dreu. “Maybe we’ll find new allies moving forward.”

  Because the dwarves made wide passages, Dreu’s party didn’t have to move single-file. The young man and Olgron handled the front while Ilveroz and Aggich followed closely to support them when necessary. Meanwhile, Zog and the other honey badgers covered their rear, ready to intercept anyone or anything that managed to get behind the party. Dreu had already sent the Loryss and Bunted ahead to scout out any threats. The group moved at a steady pace until even Dreu could make out the combat noises up ahead. By then, all four demon bats had gathered above them, relaying the situation up ahead.

  “Can you repeat what you just said?” asked Dreu after he heard description that sounded like a velo.

  After getting confirmation, Dreu stopped to think about the combat ahead. He was questioning his decision to go deeper. There was no way for him to ally those from the underground if the reports of the velo were true. There was no longer a good reason for them to venture deeper, even if he desired some action. Both the underworld forces and the undead would want them dead, making their approach suicidal.

  “Looks like some of the skeletons are coming this way,” said Bartok. “If we don’t want to get bogged down in combat, we better leave now.”

  Before Dreu can make a decision, their path for retreat was cut off by a bunch of undead soldiers that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

  How were they so quiet? None of us were even aware of them until they surrounded us.

  “Guess we have no choice then!”