Whitlock knelt next to the body, but Melann interrupted him, using her divine power to heal his injured arm. The process took a few minutes, during which Vheod anxiously watched the passage around the corner where the gnolls fought against the guardian. The bestial warriors struggled against the stone statue to no avail. He was surprised to see that they didn't turn from the overwhelming might of their foe. Instead the humanoids threw themselves at it. They must really want to get inside-was it really only to get at them? Somehow Vheod doubted it. This underground structure held more secrets, that seemed evident.

The body at their feet held no recognizable features for any of them. All three of them, in fact, were certain they'd never seen the individual before. He wore a leather jerkin and carried equipment and supplies befitting someone who knew he was going underground-torches, rope, pitons, and more. Vheod also noted that the dead body was well armed with a short sword and a number of daggers.

Vheod took the sword and daggers, shrugging his shoulders as he stood back up and looked at his companions. "We may need these." Whitlock replied with a grim nod. Melann said nothing.

"We should get moving," Whitlock said. He took the torch from Vheod.

Whitlock led the three of them down the corridor as Vheod tucked the weapons in his belt. The hauntingly cool air currents chilled their summer-accustomed flesh. The smooth angular walls and floor were coated with a thick layer of dust, though in places the flickering torchlight indicated disturbances suggesting that others had passed through there before.

"That man was not killed by the stone guardian…" Melann said to no one in particular.

"I don't think the guardian was activated until we got here," Vheod replied.

"… I think he was a sacrifice," Melann continued. She turned to Vheod with an intense glare in her eye. "His throat had been cut. I don't think he was killed in a fight."

"The gnolls?" Vheod asked.

Melann raised her eyebrows and shoulders in unison, shaking her head slightly. She turned away.

"I think it must have been the gnolls." Whitlock said from ahead of them. "Take a look at this."

Whitlock moved to one side to allow the other two to see beyond him. The passage gave way to a small chamber with smooth stone walls and powerful arches supporting the ceiling. In the center of the room, hundreds of small green stones glittered in the torchlight. They lay in a carefully constructed pile.

"Those are the same stones the gnolls were gathering," Melann said.

"Yes," Whitlock replied. "They must have been bringing them here as an offering or something."

Vheod entered the room and approached the stones. He could see that they'd not just been piled on the floor, but had been placed in a deliberate pattern. When he stood next to the pile, directly over the pattern, he could see what was intended. It formed a crude depiction of a leering, fiendish face.

Instinctively, he brought his left arm up to look at the back of his hand. There the Taint emblazoned on his flesh, mockingly took the same shape as the pattern on the floor. The leering face was a shape that the Taint had taken numerous times before. He never thought about it before, but it was the shape the tattoo took most of the time. The stones had been positioned here in the same manner. The same leering, mocking face. "Damn," Vheod said quietly.

Melann came to his side, looking down at the pattern of stones. She looked at the Taint, then into his eyes.

"I don't think you should be here," she told him. Her voice was soft.

"You're probably right," he said slowly. Sighing deeply, he continued, "I've been led here, Melann. Everything that's happened to me since I arrived in this world, or perhaps earlier than that-perhaps even my entire life-has led me here. It's as though I have no will of my own. Like what I want to do with my life doesn't matter. Everything I've done, every person I've ever met, has been part of a manipulation to bring me here. Even you and Whitlock, unknowingly, have been a part of it."

"But," Melann interrupted, "who has been doing this to you?"

"For all I know, I have." "I don't understand."

"Neither do I," Vheod said, shaking his head and stepping away from the stones, "but I do know that all my life I've borne this Taint and that sometimes it acts as though it's an intelligent force of its own. It leads me places. It set into motion the events that brought me here in the first place. The Taint led me to Arach and Gyrison. It led me to Orrag. It… it led me to you."

"Why?" Melann asked. "Why did it do all of this? What is it?"

"I don't know," Vheod said, looking at the tattoo.

"Can you get rid of it somehow? Can you use magic? Can you cut it off?"

"In the first battle with the giant ravens, the flesh where it rested was slashed, but it didn't affect the Taint."

Melann grew quiet, obviously overwhelmed by the situation. Vheod couldn't blame her.

Finally, she said, "Is Chare'en-the demon-imprisoned here like you said?" She paused, and knelt down to look at an individual green stone. "If so, why are we here? Does that mean everything we've been told, and all we've relied on to save our parents and possibly ourselves, has been a He?" She stood again. "Perhaps." Vheod lowered his head. "If you even so much as suspected this, why did you come at all?"

"If it wasn't true, then you might come here and free Chare'en accidentally. I thought you might need my help." He looked back up at her.

"By the Mother of All," Melann said, "it's my fault." "No, it's not. Don't you see? Even if everything I feared was true-I still had to come here. I need to know who's controlling my life. If Chare'en-my own fiendish ancestor-is here, then it's not only my responsibility to make sure he doesn't cause any harm, but it's also imperative I come here to prove that even if forces have manipulated to bring me here to free him, I won't do it.

"I am my own man. I have to prove that-at least to myself."

"I understand," Melann said after a moment, "out there's such a risk."

Vheod's shoulders fell. He shut his eyes.

"No," Melann said. "I didn't mean that. I have faith in you, Vheod. You can do it."

Whitlock suddenly returned, though Vheod hadn't noticed he'd left. "I looked ahead-the passage continues beyond this chamber. It leads fairly far into the mountain, and I'm pretty sure I heard something moving around up there. I think we should probably check it out. Besides,"-he looked back the way they'd come-"there's no way to tell if and when the gnolls or that guardian statue might show up at our backs."

Melann looked to Vheod and nodded solemnly, with a smile of support. "Let's go check it out," she said.

Vheod arched his back, thrusting his chest ahead of him. He took a deep breath. "Yes," he said quietly, "let's go."

The passage was indeed long, and the temperature dropped slightly with each step down its length. Ahead of them they saw light and heard movement. They continued without discussion.

At the corridor's end, a huge set of brass doors barred the way. Runes, glyphs, and other symbols covered the entire surface of both doors. Four figures stood before the portals, obviously attempting to open them. As Vheod, Whitlock, and Melann approached, three turned to face them while the largest among them continued to work at the doors, thrusting his weight into pushing one open.

The figures were human men, each brandishing a short sword, a dagger, or a long, curved knife. Two held well-burnt torches high above their heads. They glowered silently as Vheod and the others approached. Their eyes showed only malice. "Hello," Melann said tentatively.

Whitlock and Vheod both tightly gripped their already drawn swords. No response came. The three of them stopped about twenty feet away from the doors, the menacing figures in front of them.