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They descended the steps carefully, though Karik knew there was every chance their foe would hear them coming with each board creaking and groaning under the weight of him and his armor. He took up the second position as they advanced, with Ryka out in front, Aecra just behind, and Ven at the rear where she could hide. Karik watched the black wolfkin's ears twitch at every sound. The rattling of bone they'd previously heard from below had gone suspiciously silent. They took one step. Another. Another. Down into the dark.

Karik's eyes fell on the dark red blade of the dagger gripped in Ryka's paw, the arcane runes glowing with an inner red luminescence that brightened and dimmed in quick pulses, always two in quick succession--they were tied to the wolfkin's heartbeat, Karik concluded. And he could hear that beat clearly, loudly, only hidden by the occasional sound of groaning wood beneath their feet. Under all that bravado, Ryka was still nervous. No, not nervous. Karik could hear the wolfkin's breath too, coming in tense, stifled inhales and exhales as Ryka tried to keep it quiet. He was terrified.

They were a few steps from the bottom.

"Why don't you let me lead?" Karik said, a polite suggestion. Ryka's foot paused halfway to the next step, his ears flicking back. He let out a chuckle that was probably much more nervous than he meant it to be.

"Hey, after what you did to that spine devil, I'm not gonna argue with that," he laughed. He seemed the type to be good at covering his emotions, but this deception wouldn't have convinced a pup that he was without fear.

They traded places on the stairs awkwardly, Ryka squeezing past Karik's much larger frame to step behind him. Karik found himself gripping the Hallowed Blade just a bit tighter, feeling the new weight on his shoulders as the guardian of the group, their front line.

They went two steps down. One. The wood creaked. Two. The next step groaned. But this was precisely what he'd agreed to in becoming a paladin. This was what he'd trained for, to be a protector. If he died today, he'd join the Goddess satisfied that he'd lived a good life.

"Karik." Ryka's whisper from behind made Karik pause, his foot on the bottom step. His voice was low enough that only another wolfkin could've heard it, a message meant for him, and his ears flicked back to catch it. But there was an awkwardly long pause. "Just... watch yourself, 'kay?"

Karik gave a silent nod, not sure why this had to be communicated privately. His heart skipped as he considered maybe the wolfkin had feelings for him. Their kin were known for loyalty to their brethren, after all, and if the look Ryka had given him on the docks meant anything, he was definitely open to relationships with the same sex. Karik wasn't sure how he'd break the news that he didn't feel the same way.

"You sense something, Karik?" Aecra's whisper came from farther behind.

"It's nothing," he lied unconvincingly. "Carrying on."

The fib had been probably as easy to see through as Ryka's. Karik's ears pinned back with guilt. But there wasn't time for this now. He pushed the distracting thoughts aside, trying to focus on the current task. They had a bone devil to take care of.

He took the final step down into the space that Captain Darkfur had called the Underhold. It was indeed dark, but wolfkin could see fine in darkness, and past the unmarked crates, he saw the thin, pale white form of the bone devil hunched by the far wall. It turned, and as it did, a series of braziers lining the Underhold's supporting beams lit with unholy red fire. The turning motion came with a sickening pull of flesh, the sound of the infernal creature's already taut skin pulling tighter, stretching between thick bones. Its grinning, skull-like face looked toward them with hollow eye sockets, and when the angle shifted, Karik saw the two distant red points in the center of them, all the infernal being had to call eyes. The four insect-like wings buzzed as they fluttered.

And then it spoke, not aloud, but in their minds--somehow, Karik knew the message was to all four of them.

"I know you," the voice hissed, its grin widening. A glob of thick yellowish drool slipped from between two of its sharp teeth and dangled by a thinning string.

"Do you, demon?" Karik challenged, his grasp on the Hallowed Blade firmer than ever.

"Oh, yesss," the voice hissed, sounding pleased. "The untested monk yet to face a true fight. The thief who pretends her claws are clean of blood. The proud paladin hiding his sinnnsss."

Karik's heart dropped and he heard a sharp gasp from Ryka on his left. But he got the sense this was more of a sound of anticipation than reaction to the devil's comment on him.

"And the blood hunter who--"

"It plays mind games!" Ryka growled, cutting off the infernal being's taunt. "Shut the thing up!"

Karik readied himself to strike, but the bone devil was fast, its scorpion-like tail lashing out toward him. It missed, swinging past. On his left, Ryka hissed with pain and Karik realized that the attack hadn't been at him, but at the blood hunter. Karik grimaced, seeing the wound in Ryka's shoulder--the stinger had pierced right through his leather armor's right pauldron, and there was already a green edge to the large puncture. Poison.

"I'm f-fine," Ryka grunted. But again, his deception fell completely flat. He very clearly was not fine. Another hit like that might kill him.

Karik's first instinct was to heal him, but there was a blur of white feathers and Aecra was up behind Ryka, claws swirling with the golden shimmer of life energy the monks called ki. Ryka groaned, breathing a sigh of relief as the wound in his shoulder closed slightly, but the greenish ooze didn't fade. The poison still lingered.

"Karik, stay on the attack," Aecra said. "You're our heaviest hitter."

Without waiting for a reply, she flew forward at the bone devil, and her claws slashed with talons extended, those talons giving off wisps of dark necrotic power. She struck the devil's neck and dug her claws in, the bone devil giving a hissing shriek, gashes blackened.

Karik clenched his teeth and broke into a run, swinging the Hallowed Blade up over his head, ready to bring it down on the devil. There was a glint, a flash of steel as two shining throwing knives flew past him--Ven's. These daggers both missed completely, embedding themselves in the wall behind the bone devil.

It hissed with what sounded like smug pleasure, but Karik was already bringing his blade down. This strike hit, a golden burst of light streaming down from above as he put extra divine power into the attack; he'd smite the foul thing. The bone devil screamed, its flesh sizzling as the Hallowed Blade cleaved one of its wings clean off.

"YES! That's what I'm talking about!" Ryka cheered from behind. The bone devil sneered, but Ryka just grinned at it. "My turn, ugly."

Karik watched as the black-furred wolfkin took his arcane dagger and drew a shallow slash across his own upper arm--the one that hadn't been struck by the bone devil's stinger. The blood drawn by the weapon coated the blade and froze solid, crackling, coating it in jagged red shards of ice as Ryka's dark eyes pulsed with a red glow. Then he ran forward with a yell.

The frozen blade sank into the devil's throat and its menacing hiss cut off with a choking sound, ice spreading out around the wound so that Ryka had to tug it free, the demon's flesh cracking. Ryka jumped back, probably intent on putting some distance between himself and the bone devil, but their foe struck out with a slash of its bony claw. Ryka groaned in pain as the claw cut three gashes in his abdomen.

Enraged, the bone devil shrieked and turned its hollow eyes on Karik. It knew him for the threat he was now. Wounded it may have been, but it was still in the fight. Its wicked claws slashed out, the first only raking ineffectively across his armor, but the second getting his face and neck. The pain distracted him and he didn't see its tail swinging around until it was too late.

He felt a piercing sting in his chest and let out a groan of agony. His vision blurred and the world around him twisted, growing dark. He looked down and saw the bone devil's tail jutting from his chest, the stinger sunk deep in the armor. He tasted blood. The shouts of his friends were barely audible from behind, the darkness closing in.

"No!" Aecra's voice, shocked, pleading.

"Karik..." Ryka's whisper.

The bone devil chittered as he sank to his knees.

"A shame," it hissed inside his mind. "They told me you were strong."

***

The poison still pumped through Ryka's veins, but it hurt less than the grief. He watched as the bone devil yanked its stinger from Karik's chest, the point glistening with blood. The paladin's body fell aside with a heavy thud, the Hallowed blade clattering to the floor. Ryka turned the grief into rage and let it fill him.

"At least now he is with his beloved Goddessss," the bone devil sneered, the words inside their minds, but it came with an open-mouthed hiss that sprayed them with spittle. "His ssssoul dines with her in that divine realm."

Ryka's eyes narrowed. Was the thing lying, toying with his mind knowing he feared the alternative? He couldn't focus through the pain of that damn poison. How the fuck were you supposed to read tells off that skull face, anyway? But if they could drag the soul of Karik Winterglade himself down...

Aecra wasn't as intent on deciphering the demon's message, flying forward and slashing with her claws. After a single miss, she jumped back, moving faster than the demon could follow.

"Can't you heal him?" Ryka asked. "The way you--"

Aecra shook her head sadly. "My ki is spent."

Ryka's heart fell.

The bone devils eyes looked past them into the darkness and Ryka saw Ven emerge from the shadows. She must have figured there was no point in hiding if the thing had spotted her. The black-feathered aarakocra shot forward, green eyes gleaming like the points of her daggers, but only one sank into the devil's flesh, at the shoulder. Even before it threw her off, Ryka knew it wasn't nearly enough to kill the thing. So he took his chance, rushing at it before Ven had hit the ground.

"Ryka, wait! Your potion!" Shadowfang's voice said in his mind.

Of course! He dug into his bag and found one of the many healing potions--he'd never been so thankful for his mother's overprotectiveness. He dropped to his knees at Karik's side, pulling the cork on the fat bottle with his teeth and spitting it across the floor, then hooked a finger into the paladin's maw and yanked his mouth open. The white wolfkin was still breathing, thank the gods--or the Goddess, as the case may be. Ryka tilted the bottle and the red liquid within gurgled, splashing down the warrior's throat.

Karik coughed and spluttered, his eyes flying open.

"Welcome back, big guy," Ryka said with a huge grin.

The bone devil's shriek was deafening, but Ryka didn't flinch, just turned and stared it right in its face. Then he brought Shadowfang's blade down into the top of the ugly beast's skull. It pierced the bone and the red ice spread over the devil's gaunt face, but it wasn't deep enough. Not deep enough to kill. He stabbed again, but the blade glanced off the frozen skull. Shit!

The bone devil moved a claw and Ryka felt the tearing pain of talons gashing his chest. The attack sent him sprawling back, rolling and landing on his back beside Karik. This was it. This was how he would finally die.

And somehow he knew popping a healing potion wouldn't do it this time. The darkness closing in was different than it had been. He'd come close to death before. But this darkness was deeper.

No.

He wouldn't go back. He couldn't.

He'd missed the chance to deliver his final plea to Karik before. This might be his last. He forced his lungs to draw breath, fought the choking gush of blood that followed.

"K-Karik..." he groaned. "Don't let them... take me."

The darkness closed in. His heartbeat was loud in his ears. He closed his eyes and begged to Karik's Goddess of Creation, to his own, the Goddess of Blood, to any deity who might listen. The last thing he knew was the feeling of Shadowfang's hilt in his failing grip.

***

He felt Her light, Her warmth. It was all around him. He was with Her. His Goddess.

He saw it: Her realm. He was among the clouds and endless blue sky. She was before him, her smile wide and radiant. Her fur was whiter than the clouds, and her eyes, golden and shining with light, were full of happiness and pride. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. All of his doubts melted away. Everything he'd ever been afraid to say to Her seemed like nothing now.

But then there was a new sensation, an uncomfortable pull tugging him back, and Her smile changed so that it filled him with sadness. Her paw reached up to stroke his cheek. He knew what the pull was before She spoke.

"I'm sorry, my champion," She said. "Your friends still need you."

He tried to speak, tried to tell Her how he felt, but all that came out was a strange red liquid. He coughed, spluttered. And then he was solid again, lying uncomfortably on the floorboards of the Underhold. He looked up into Ryka's grin.

"Welcome back, big guy," the wolfkin said.

The bone devil's scream was harsh and shrill. Ryka turned and struck the thing twice, but it lashed out, a single claw swipe flinging him back and spraying blood.

"K-Karik..." He turned and saw Ryka dying. "Don't let them... take me."

But the bone devil wasn't done. Its first claw swipe against Karik barely missed, but then came the stinger again. It thrust the twisted spine downward into the same place as before. The darkness closed in again.

***

Ven clutched the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind against her chest. She knew this feeling. She'd felt it once before and hated it. Up against forces of true evil, feeling hopeless. She wanted to do it all over again, fall to her knees and beg for guidance, for power, even if it was temporary. But would the Goddess of Creation let her strike another deal? There was a world of difference between channeling divine power from an intermediary and becoming a paladin. But that wasn't her. She'd promised herself she could do this without it, that she could get by just being herself.

Aecra was the first to move, rushing in and swiping at the bone devil, talons out. Ven watched as each slash missed. Her choice now was to either fight or try to save the two fallen wolfkin. She didn't want them to die, but if they just kept reviving those two, the bone devil would target Aecra. She chose to fight.

Her daggers gleamed and her wings pushed, the air rushing around her. She struck, aiming first for the ugly, festering wounds Aecra had left on the bone devil's neck. Missed. She aimed for the necrotic flesh again, and this time she hit, her blade pulling one of the talon slashes open wider, infernal blood gushing from the score. She slashed again, this time aiming for the stab wound Ryka had left in the top of its head. But it moved. The bloody thing moved. Damn it!

Behind her, there was a gasp. She spun and couldn't believe what she saw.

"Karik!" Aecra gasped, the sound holding as much joy as it did shock. The lucky wolf definitely did seem to have the Goddess on his side. He rose to his feet and took up his blade, eyes filled with what Ven could only describe as righteous vengeance.

Karik swung the sacred greatsword, but the first swing narrowly missed the bone devil's chest. The second attack, though, hit its mark. The massive sword pierced the devil through the middle, and the thing screeched, thrashing. Karik stayed stone still as the demon jerked and tossed, the wild movement dying to defiant twitches, then to weak shudders, then stillness. Its hollow eye sockets emptied, the red pinpricks of light within fading to darkness, its head now an empty skull.

The radiant golden light surrounding the paladin's blade intensified, the blade itself glowing golden yellow, then a hot white, and the veins of the bone devil began to push outward, pulsing with the same gold-white luminescence. And then the demon exploded. The light was blinding, filling the darkness of the Underhold, and there was a blast of air with it.

When the light faded, the bone devil was gone.