Once the wall had been breached and the crumbling sides shored up Drachia joined Tarvick and his crew in the chilly vault and realized that it was more than a single room. Her eyes glinted red in the poor light, able to see farther into the all-encompassing gloom than her human associates. She noted the cubbyholes along the walls and here and there could spy the dark eye sockets of humanoid skulls. Cautious, she approached them, looking for placard or engraving to hint at the identity of the ancient corpses tucked neatly into their tombs. Places like this were notorious for traps. "This isn't just a treasure vault, Tarvick," her voiced hissed out of the darkness, catching the man by surprise so that he nearly dropped his torch. "See that your men take care." Over his shoulder he could see the lads wrenching the lids off large trunks that lined one wall, already shoveling the glittering riches into thick leather bags. Bags that, Drachia noted with a soft sniff, she had enchanted to carry more than they seemed in exchange for information long ago. Drachia's wings shifted uncomfortably and she struggled inwardly, fighting the urge to seize the jingling, shiny riches from these pathetic humans and keep them all to herself. They didn't deserve the gold. And it was so...so pretty... She stopped herself with a shake of her horned head, fighting he dragon-sized lust for treasure, reasoning that there were better things in store is she kept a good grip on her patience. In the impromptu entryway, Drachia saw nothing that held her interest, so the began stalking along the row of shrouded bodies, shaking her head or wings when they happened to catch on the wispy draping cobwebs that crisscrossed the darkened space. Many were draped in what once had been colourful banners, or sealed in engraved stone or golden caskets. These, Drachia reached out to touch, unable to deny the pleasure of solid gold under her fingertips. She wasn't above grave-robbing. Many of the enchanted artifacts she had acquired in her time had been buried with their former owners. But she was far too practical to bother with the effort of looting an entire golden casket. When she got to the very last cubby, far out of sight of Tarvick, she realized that she had found the original entrance to this sacred place. The original door had cavern inwards under the force of millions of tons of mountain rock. There was no way out this way. But it did mean that the body she was standing near was likely the last to be buried. Curious, Drachia's eyes found the placard over the head of the golden shroud. "Here lies Belamica Darkthorn, elfmaid, champion of her Lord King Daramus and protector of the realm, sworn paladin by the grace of the Father of Light." An elfmaid paladin championing a human king? That was a tale worth legends. Curious, the half-dragon reached for the golden shroud and pulled it back, a layer of dust sliding from the shining cloth to swirl in the air around her. The yellowed bones and permanent leer of the skull that greeted her held no terror for the dragoness, but she was surprised. The skeleton wore no armour, the clawlike fleshless fingers gripped no might sword or other great-weapon, and the skull itself was large and blocky, missing both the small perfect teeth of an elf and the thin, refined cheekbones she would have expected. "This is no elfmaid," she hissed quietly to herself, replacing the shroud with a flick of her wrist. Perhaps she and Tarvick had both been wrong and this tomb had been looted before. Disappointment etched into her demeanor, she turned to go when something caught her eye. Underneath the resting place of the mysterious skeleton, a panel of engraved stone jutted out from its surrounding mortar. Beyond it was nothing but the shadow of a small niche in the stone. Crouching down, the mage gripped the panel with her claws and worked it free until there was enough space for her to look within. Her excitement grew and when she reached in, her fingers encountered not one, but a small stack of leatherbound tomes. Working fast, she tugged them free and tucked them into the enchanted pouch at her hip. One final sweep of the tiny alcove with her hand and she recovered a small golden amulet, an intricate symbol of the God of Light that many simply called 'The Father'. She didn't miss Tarvick's suspicious looks when she returned to the group and immediately put up her guard. "You found something, didn't you?" He accused calmly, blocking the exit, his crossbow pointed at her heart. "I need those books." There was a fierce determination in his tone that Drachia had never heard before, and in her surprise it took her a few moments to understand that it was a determination fueled by fear. Not fear of her, but of the mysterious others who had cornered him in an alley a fortnight ago. Those few moments nearly cost her her life. One of Tarvick's mean swung at her head with a hammer while another seized her pouch and tried to wrench it free from her belt. She spun quickly, taking a glancing blow to the side of her face that darkened her right eye. She kicked the snatcher free and called on her magic to send a roaring fireball from her palm into the face of the one wielding the hammer. Both men staggered back and the flames jumped from the flailing human onto the dried, shattered wood of the ancient chests on the ground. The air was instantly full of smoke and simmering heat. A third man slashed at her with a sword, cutting a slice through her vest and her scales. The wound was deep and stung terribly, she slapped a hand to the bleeding cut and was thankful that she wasn't feeling her own entrails in her palm. Gesturing with both hands at the ceiling, she melted the stone above the swordsman's head, bringing a torrent of lava down on his head. The glowing liquid splashed across her bare feet, and while the heat didn't bother her she knew that it would hamper her movements. The room was crowded with screaming men, smoke, and flame, and she knew there were more men with Tarvick. She turned for the door and ran, bowling the man down under her sharp talons, but not before taking one of his crossbow bolts in the thigh. Her angry roar rattled dust from the ceiling and it coated her scales as she limped away with her precious tomes. "They'll find you, Drachia! The same men who find me wont stop until they have what they are looking for!" Tarvick, his angry face lined with oozing claw-marks, screamed after her as she fled the scene. As soon as she reached the grand hall she opened her wings, launching herself up through the broken roof and away from her pursuers.