Boris’ bovine tail flicked about nervously. The underground city, while massive, was still underground. His minotaur instincts and natural affinity for mazes had him remember every turn around every corner. But the map in his mind was a bit fogged by his own claustrophobia. Though, one would not notice it by just looking at his face. He kept his eyes focused on Alydrezea. The drow woman was having a much grander time of it. Here pale eyes alight with curiosity, a mouth full of a glazed sweet roll. However, the hostility towards her kind was tangible in this dwarf hold. Everywhere they went, shops either refused to do business with her, or were inflating their prices. Boris was not very good with matters of money and commerce, but even he knew that a whole gold piece for a piece of sweet bread was a lot.

It was obvious, Alydrezea knew of the looks she got, but that did not seem to bother her. In fact, she would argue the day away with that baker if Boris hand not pulled her away before she could mouth off too much. The minotaur took a deep breath, his buffalo nostrils flaring. It was warm in the bosom of the earth. The fresh lava flow that was deep beneath them was likely the cause. The faint scent of raw iron filled his nose. A morbid curiosity came to his mind, just how deep are the mining tunnels beneath this city? His buffalo ears flicked with fear at the thought, and he saw his dark elf companion staring at him with a wicked grin.
“What?” Boris grunted. The drow just kept grinning.
“If you’re scared you can hold my hand.” Her voice was sweet, but her expression was like a child on the verge of laughter.
The minotaur huffed, and walked past her, the druid following the minotaur with a hushed giggle. As they explored more of the dwarf city, he noticed that the guards were shifting. A changing of post just like in any other city. Lamps of luminescent rocks lined the streets, giving off a soft blue light that lit up the roads. Good thing too, or Boris and Kara would be blind down here. “Drezea…what time is?”
“Huh?” Alydrezea looked up, seeing no stars. No sun and no moon. Only the dark ceiling of the mountain. “I…I don’t know. Oh crap, if we’re late getting back to the others Kara is going to give us an earful!” The drow groaned. “I cannot deal with another of lectures!” Her voice changed into a mocking expression of their human comrade. “Drezea, don’t do this. Drezea, stop eating that. Drezea, make yourself useful! Oooh, it makes me want to smack her!” She planted her fist into her palm, and noticed her arms were a bit on the scrawny side. “Boris, will you smack her for me?”
“No.”
“But whyyy? I’ll get you some nice venison!” She stopped her bribery attempt was cut short when Boris held up his calloused hand. His ears were flicking about, and his nostrils flaring. Alydrezea knew that minotaurs, including her friend, had a strong sense of smell. The snout of her barbaric ally was hardly ever wrong. He got on edge, stuffing the last of the sweet roll into her mouth. “What is it?”
Boris was quiet a moment. “I smell…iron…and…blood. Did you cut yourself?”
The druid cocked a curious brow. “No.”
“The blood smells like yours…no…like your kind.”
“My kind?” The druid’s confusion quickly turned to worry, a glint of terror in her eyes. “Uh oh. Where is it coming from?”
Boris pointed toward the eastern-part of the city. Alydrezea took off in a dash in that direction. Boris chased after her. A dark elf’s eyes were superior in the dark, and leaving the light of the glowrock lamps did not hinder her ability to see, though she could no longer perceive color. Her fears confirmed as she spied a sinkhole. It was ringed by a five-foot high iron fence and covered in signs that read [Danger. Decommissioned mine. Do not enter.] In common and dwarvish. Crawling out of the abandoned sinkhole like spiders, were four tall and elegant figures. Their most striking feature was the long-pointed ears. She approached them boldly. “Hey, you guys! Stop!”
The four figures stopped, preparing their weapons. Each of them held shortbows and daggers, and all of them were male. They had curious looks on their faces, noticing a female drow standing before them. But they were still silent.
Alydrezea had heard stories of her underground kin, but she did not pay much attention to them as a child. With what little she could remember; she cleared her throat. “You four have a lot of nerve! You’re…you’re uh…you’re ruining my operations in this city!”
She took a moment to try and find anything about them that was a determining factor. A mark. A scar. A symbol. Her eyes had but a moment to look, and she spied something, on the left side neck of one drown man. A tattoo…no…more like a brand. It was the shape of a hand wearing spider-webbed gloves.
“Operations?” One of the drow men asked in disbelief.
The druid paused, thinking. “The uh…th-the operation…of…stealing-a magic item! A-an orb! Pure emerald with dragons on it!” She did her best to hide the lie, praying to the stars that they could not see her hands trembling.
The drow men looked to one another; their stances did not relax. The druid was sure they were buying it! Until her friend caught up to her.

Boris lumbered into this meet, his ears went flat in aggression, and he took the glaive from its resting place upon his back. The drow men readied their arrows to attack, only stopping as Alydrezea put herself between her friend and these spies. “Wait!” She tensed up. The trembling became worse, and more difficult to conceal as she realized she may have just outed herself. “I uh..t-this is…my uh…my servant! My-my bodyguard too!” She turned to face Boris; the minotaur’s face was one of pure confusion as he was ‘scolded’ by his druidic ally. “Bad bodyguard! You interrupted my talk! I…uh..I should…punish you! Real bad! …later!” She was winking at him, but Boris could hardly see in the dark. His aggressive stance stayed a moment, and it did not fade till he felt the hands of his friend upon his own. Lowering his glaive, he stayed quiet…and the drow woman let out a silent breath of relief.
“My lady…” A drow man asked, his voice still in disbelief but more polite now. “This…beast, is yours?”
“Y-yes! Yes, he is! He is my bodyguard! He’s the best there is at…guarding my body!” She proclaimed. “N-now all of you, shoo! Back to your uh…your masters! Or I will…kill you myself!” With the imposing presence of Boris’ towering musculature and sharp curved horns just behind the small dark elf, the drow men seemed a bit unnerved. With a wave of the lead man’s hand, the others put up their weapons and retreated down the abandoned mineshaft. “Apologies…my lady.” The lead drow man gave a deep bow to the drow woman. He too retreated down the sinkhole. As they disappeared deeper into the earth, Alydrezea let out a sigh of relief. Boris placed a heavy hand on her small shoulder. “Drezea. What the Hells is going on?! Do you know those men?!”
The dark elf woman reached up her hands, having to stand up on her tip-toes to harshly shush her friend. “Sssshhh! Why do you pick now to start talking?!” Her words were in a harsh whisper, and taking Boris by the hand, lead him back to the illuminated city streets. “We need to get back with the others right now!”
The minotaur nodded his capped buffalo head, “I remember the way. Follow me.”

The Homely Heart inn was a classical dwarvish inn. The outcropping was made of stone carved out of the innards of the massive mountain. The bar and furnishings were made of decent and solid wood, and chandeliers holding that soft glowing blue stones illuminated the bar and common areas. A human woman in common clothing was serving guests while a dwarf man tended the bard. Another dwarf man was cooking food in the room behind the bar, the smell of roasting meats and bubbling stews wafted out into the rest of the inn. Kara sat at a table in a far corner, counting out what gold she did not spend, and fiddling with that same gold coin in her left hand. She looked up as Grukk sat down in the seat across from hers. “Find anything good?” The Rajan woman asked with a smile, amused by the half-orcs little treasure hunt. The man in question smiled, his clean tusks moving with his jaw as he spoke.
“I did! This book holds the secrets I was searching for!” He presented his sneaky friend with the same book he bought off the library.
“Volo’s guide to the Giants; a poet and scholar’s assessment of the fabled ‘big folk’ of the world.” Kara cocked her eyebrow, reading the title aloud. “Okay, so you bought a book. Good for you. Learn anything, I dunno, useful.”
Grukk scoffed. “Of course, I did! I deciphered another rune! This one here-.” He opened the book, quickly flipping his greyish-green fingers through the pages and pointing to a picture of it. “-this one here! A rune of the Cloud Giants! It should grant me some kind of power, like the Fire Giant rune!”
That earned a true smile from the pickpocket. “Finally, some good news. If it’s as good as those flaming chains, that’s a welcome addition to our force.” She took a bit of some simple bread and cheese, Grukk ordering a drink and some cheap hot food for himself.
“Where’s Drezea and Boris?” The half-orc asked. The human woman waved her hand in an uncaring gesture. “They’re still exploring the city, probably. Hah! Imagine a huge minotaur timidly following a tiny little dark elf around because it’s not spacious enough down here!”
Grukk shook his head, though still held an expression of amusement. “You’re not going to let him live that down, will you?”
“Congrats, solider boy. You win a prize!”
“Oh? What kind of prize?”
“I’ll stop calling you ‘soldier boy’ for a full day.” Kara smirked, and Grukk just laughed in response. “I feel so honored!” As Kara and Grukk discussed their supplies, money, and the journey into the Living Desert, hours passed. Guests came and went, some heading upstairs to their rooms to sleep for the night and still no sign of their missing two companions. Grukk was pacing about their table, Kara watching him go back and forth from her chair. Back and forth and back and forth.
“Hey, cut that out, would you? You’re making me dizzy.”
“I can’t help it. I have a feeling something bad may have happened.”
“In this city? This place is a fortress, even the armies of Iroas couldn’t get in!”
“That’s not it. You saw how Alydrezea was treated at the gates! What if somebody were too do something horrible to her?”
“Listen, even if someone wanted harm her, the lady can turn into a wolf and shoot stars out of her hands! Besides, Boris is with her. He’s huge, scary, and wears the clothes of a homeless woodsman. No thief or mugger in their right mind would pick them as a target.”
“And how can you be so sure?”
“It’s all about sizing up the target, Grukk. Looking at those two, there’s too much tell of a risk and not enough tell of a reward. Now, sit down.” Despite her words, Kara shared in Grukk’s concerns. Panicking would gain them nothing, but what to do?
Their attention was brought to the door of the inn as it was slammed open. Kara and Grukk smiled, seeing Boris and Alyzdrezea back at last.
“See? I told there were-“ Kara was cut off by the dark elf slamming her hands on the table. Her normally sweet voice now trembled with worry. “We’re in trouble!”