They all sat by the derelict, dry fountain and listened to the heavy scraping making its way down the corridor. When the thief appears, his clothes are damp with sweat and his face is red. Behind him he drags a giant sack that jingles with each pull.
‘You’re going to drag all that the whole way?’ asks the paladin.
Breathless, the thief lets the sack go a moment. ‘We earned it,’ he says, panting, ‘I’m not letting it all rot down here.’
‘It’ll take you days to get that out,’ says the wizard. ‘It’s just gold. You can always find more gold.’
‘But not this much gold,’ says the thief.
‘Yes but it took you an hour to catch up,’ says the paladin.
‘Well, I might be a little slower with the weight.’
‘We were one room away,’ says the wizard, ‘and we’re in the thousand-tomb catacombs of Halkus.’
Paddy Dobson
11th May 2022