The pale moon shone down in the clearing as the sun finished setting in the west. In the growing darkness, a hunched figure emerged from the trees to stand in front of the cave and wail in despair at the large piles of bones in front of her. A smaller figure stepped into the moonlight as well, slowly and trepidatiously approaching the first figure from behind.

“What do we do now, Treshigan?” asked the whimpering voice. “Do you think the master will forgive us for failing him?”

“What do we do now?” Treshigan repeated with derision dripping from her words. “I think the answer to that is pretty obvious, Mutt. You say goodbye to your pathetic excuse for a life, and I say goodbye to my beauty and power. I wouldn’t be surprised if we both find ourselves as nothing more than walking corpses by midnight tomorrow.”

“Come now,” said a third voice, from just beyond the shadows of the nearby trees. “After all, if nothing else, Vdekshi is a master who is so fond of second chances. Even third, fourth, and ninetieth chances in your case, Tresh.” A tall, thin figure emerged from the trees with skin as pale as the moonlight. He was dressed in elegant clothing, and his smile seemed to hide a sinister delight known only to himself.

“He sent you to retrieve us already, Laronius?” asked Treshigan with both fear and contempt. “He must trust me even less than I thought.”

“Oh the master doesn’t trust anyone,” said Laronius with a look of mock surprise. “Not even me, and I’m his most loyal and faithful servant.”

“You mean his most obedient lap dog,” snapped Treshigan.

Laronius clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk. The words of a witch really can hurt, can’t they?” Laronius said, turning to Mutt. “Still I suppose it’s true. I have been following you for quite some time. With all the power Vdekshi gave you, the master wanted to know how well you were using it. Walking around in broad daylight? Making yourself look beautiful to a bunch of mangy dragon hunters? I think we may need to have a talk about budgeting your resources, Tresh.”

“Still,” said Laronius, regaining his sinister smile, “what’s done is done. And as I said, Vdekshi is so fond of second chances. Let’s see what kind of second chances are available here, hm?”

“There’s nothing of use here,” said Treshigan. “That idiot Tarun burned all the bodies so there’s nothing but ash and bones for you to reanimate.”

“Ah, but you haven’t got the eyes I have, Tresh,” said Laronius. “Mutt, do you see those four slightly raised mounds over there?”

Mutt nodded his head, obviously too afraid to speak to Laronius directly.

“Good Mutt,” Laronius said. “Now to the trained eye, one can tell that those are shallow graves. Still quite fresh, I believe. Shall we see what treasures we can find inside?”

Laronius floated above the ground and hovered over the area where the four mounds were. He pulled from his pocket a large silver and ruby ring that he placed on his finger with great flourish. “A gift from the master,” he said to Treshigan. “Only his favorite lap dogs get to play with these.”

Laronius closed his eyes, extended his hand, and began chanting. Soon the ring on his finger began to glow red in the darkness, and the dirt on top of the mounds started to stir and move.

“Ah, Krall,” Laronius said with a grin. “I was wondering when you’d come back to us.”