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To say the cave was cold would be a grave understatement.

The air in the cave had taken on an almost frozen quality the deeper the two adventurers, one human and the other an elven, had delved. And that had only been the latest of problems to arise. With frosty breaths coming from their mouths the two adventurers had made a brief stop to patch up wounds and check their supplies.

"This whole place is one giant deathtrap. Spike traps, needle traps, and more traps that I can't even describe." The elven man spat out to his human partner, whom was busy helping tie down a strip of cloth over a particularly nasty cut on his partners arm. "Where in the hells is the treasure suppose to be? That idiot of a client said this place was loaded." He snorted in disgust. "Loaded with traps and dead ends maybe... What do you think Enek, press on to certain death or head back and find ourselves some fine drink and finer company for the evening?" The elven man grinned jokingly at his partner.

The human in question, Enek raised an eyebrow at this as he pulled the cloth knot tightly over his partners wounded arm, causing the elven to let out a groan of pain before rubbing it. "With as much time and...blood now we've invested in this venture, the least we can do is grab a shiny necklace or something of the sort to pawn off in town. Or did you forget that taverns and 'finer company' as you called it typically like to be paid? Besides, the last time I checked our group funds we didn't have a hell of a lot. Not enough to complain anyway, that's why we picked such a shady sounding job Taeln." Enek sighed, his face illuminated by the soft glow of the nearby lit lantern.

The two men had a moment of shared silence, lamenting empty wallets and emptier stomachs.

Taeln shook his head clear, getting up and putting his equipment back in order. He picked the lantern up off the ground and held it up to stave off the darkness around them as he turned to regard the tunnel they were traveling. "Certain death it is then."

The two adventurers traveled deeper down the tunnel path, the ground giving away to a gradual slope. Their breaths hung closely in the air, growing thicker with each step of the descent. Indeed, to say the cave was cold would be a terrible understatement.

As the tunnel evened out, it presented the duo with a new sight other than the seemingly endless cave wall. A large double door, carved out of stone and etched with runic writing. The doors seemed to carry tremendous weight, and not just because of their size. Even the very same frozen air that had assaulted them thus far and clung to the walls in thick water droplets avoided the doors.

Enek and Taeln glanced at one another, a silent agreement passed between them with a nod. They each took one of the doors, giving an experimental push and checking how much the doors could give. Taking a deep breath, Taeln started counting down. "3.. 2.. 1.." Both men threw their weight into the doors. The doors slid open surprisingly easy, perhaps a bit too much so. A fact that Taeln caught a moment before it was too late as the razor sharp needles flew through the air and embedded in his raised arm.

"Arg! Fuck!" Taeln cried out, slumping against the wall as he held his arm up in pain.

"Shit, hold on partner." Enek moved from his only partially opened door to check on Taeln's condition. The needles for the most part had fortunately been stopped by the scale mail armlet, but more than a few had dug deep enough into flesh. The two worked together, prying each out and throwing them to the floor. Taeln remained seated on the floor while Enek fished out a bit more of the cloth roll from his healers kit. Tying this wound down and wrapping it like he had previously done, causing Tael to grit his teeth and close his eyes.

The brief reverie was interrupted however by the sounds of stone sliding against stone, followed closely by the sounds of something heavy hitting the ground. The duo snapped from the moment to glance inside for the source of the sound. Enek took the lantern and held it up to better illuminate the room.

===

The massive circular room seemed to be the end goal, glittering gold coins and who knew what else were scattered about. Their attention however was not on the riches, but on the large stone golem that stomped from it's place previously against the wall and moved towards them. Eldritch runes ran the length of the construct, glowing one moment and gone the next, a pair of glowing eyes however remained consistent and focused on the two men.

"Watch for more traps! I'll keep it distracted, grab as much while you can Taeln!" Enek shouted, rushing into the room and taking a wide circle around the golem.

Taeln watched as the golem turned to regard his partner, ignoring the elven crumpled on the ground for now. He moved to his feet and into the room, scooping anything that wasn't dirt or rock into his bag.

The construct made a wide horizontal swing with one of its massive arms, causing Enek to drop to his knees to avoid it. Fueled by adrenaline and getting back to his feet, Enek took advantage of the moment and dashed between the golems legs and grabbing onto it's back. It thrashed about, attempting to reach back with it's awkward arms to find him. Climbing higher on its back and reaching what would be shoulders, Enek stayed just out of its grasp.

"It's time for the Taeln show ye bastard! Hold him there!" The elven shouted, brandishing a large hammer though his grip was weak in his left arm. Charging forward, he swung the blunt weapon into the back of the golem's leg. The sounds of stone crumbling filled the air as the hammer left a deep crack at the impact.

The construct flailed about worse than before as a groaning of sorts left it, forcing Taeln to dodge back from an arm. The golem's attention was drawn between the two targets but turned to face the elven. The leg wound however had done a fine job, causing it to fall forward when it attempted to put weight on the leg. The force of the fall caused even Taeln to dive back for more cover, as Enek held on with all he had. Face down on the ground and arms sliding to lift it back into place, the golem was already recovery from the fall.

"The hammer Taeln! Quickly dammit!" Enek shouted, looking to his partner.

Taeln shook his head clear of the impact and glanced around for his hammer. He went to grabbed for it and his vision swam before his eyes. Wrappings his fingers around the handle, the elven knew at that moment he wasn't going to be able to get up and strike the golem before the moment had passed. Straining his eyes on his partner, Taeln took a deep breath and threw the hammer at him with all the force he could muster.

The hammer passed through the air, and right into Enek's waiting hands. Reeling back in his seated position on the golems shoulders, he brought the hammer down on the back of its head, then again, and again. "Fucking... Die... Stay... Down!" Enek shouted out, punctuating each words by slaming the weapon down into the golem. Rocks and dirt flew from each strike. The golems movement ceased and it's body crumbled into so much loose stones upon the floor.

Both men simply sat for a minute breathing deeply. Taeln broke the silence with laughter. "Fucking hell! A golem Enek! Look at what the bastard was guarding."

Enek stood, dragging the hammer over to Taeln and dropping it nearby. "No shit, this place is loaded. We'll be eating like kings with all this."

"Speaking of kings, I think I understand why the name the client gave us was 'Kings Rest'." Taeln had a bit of a sheepish smile on his face when Enek looked over at him. The elven motioned with his chin towards an area in the back of the room, previously gone unnoticed.

Sitting on the opposite side of the room from the doors that had offered entry, a stone dais and finely enlaid with gems throne sat. Upon the throne, the skeletal remains of a being laid still clad of a frayed dark cloak and a crown sitting atop its head.

"Ha, put the crown on and take a seat on the throne. I bet the look will suit you!" Tael encouraged Enek with a wide grin, scooping as much treasure as he could into his bags.

Enek just nodded in response, his mind being drawn towards the idea even before Taeln had mentioned a word. He plucked the crown off the skeletons head, causing it to roll off the reamains and clatter to the floor. Pulling the cloak off of the body and around himself, Enek swept the remains from the throne. He sat down, and placed the crown on his own head. "I've never aspired to lead, but I can see the appeal.." Enek mumbled, as he glanced out the room before him.

He blinked his eyes and rubbed them though. For the briefest moment he swore there had been...people? Ghostly forms of people in attendance, almost like a coronation event. Enek laughed to himself but winced in pain a moment later as he held his head. "The hells?" He questioned out loud as he went light headed. Pain like searing fire shot through his body as he groan out in agony.

"Enek? Enek?!" Taeln dropped the bag he had been filling to rush over to his partner with concern on his face. "What happened? What's wrong? You look lik-Agh!" Taeln's words were cut short by the sword edge slowly sliding through his chest from behind. Fear filled his eyes as he glanced at his assailant. A skeleton bound together by some force stared back him with hollow eyes, the point of a sword in its hand buried deep into Taeln's back.

The elven man clutched at his chest, falling to his knees before hitting the floor. Blood seeped from his body as he gasped for breaths.

Enek was frozen in place, the pain had subsided as the fear gripped him as he watched his partner, but his body would not move. This wasn't fear binding him but something else, the source of which settled into a laughter that filled his mind. The skeleton looked from his fallen partner to Enek himself, the hollow sockets however had taken on a dark red glow. A swirling light traced along the sword buried in Taeln's body up to the skeletal hand that held it.

"M..u..c.h.. b..e..t.t.er.. How long...I waited for mortals to arrive so that I may revive myself." Its voice chilled Enek more than the air ever could, setting off every instinctual alarm in his body. The creature did not speak, but yet its voice was projected all the same. "Your essence will serve me elven, and you human, shall be rewarded. Thank you for reawakening me after all this time. The Lich-Lord Faust shall grant you a boon. I do not detect the presence of magic within you, pathetic...this shall be corrected."

The icy voice seemed to pass through Enek and soak into his very body. The Lich Faust touched his index finger to Enek's forehead, sending a surge through his body and causing him to lose conciousness. As his vision faded, the last image that filled his mind was his dead partner laying before him. "Taeln, I'm sorry..." He thought to himself as he laid in the pool of blood and passed out.