The first light of the dawn woke her, as it always did. Her knives came to her hands automatically, just in case, but there was no threat, only the soft snoring of her tentmate, their employer, Jon. He had found them at the inn, told them of a great treasure with fantastic historical value, and provided promise of coin. He needed guards, protection, someone with knowledge and curiosity, and some clever eyes and hands to find and disarm ancient traps. Nat provided that last. The other three gave them the rest. And they needed his coin.

Nat slipped out of the tent, closing the flap behind her, and put on her sandals. This camp have proved safe, but she wanted to do a quick patrol all the same. They had travelled far, and this was to be the day they took the final hike to the old buried fortress. A short walk proved useful for warming up sleepy muscles, as well as reassuring a nervous rogue.

The sound and smell of bacon on the fire greeted her before she returned to the clearing, and she saw Red, the cheerful, dark-skinned loremaster, cooking.

"Hello, what news this morning?" Red said as Nat came into the clearing.

"Little of consequence," Nat replied. "The camp is safe. The fortress is near, according to our vaunted employer. And I am more than certain that the others will awaken when the smell of your delicious fare reaches them."

Red shrugged and smiled in response. No matter how often the four of them had travelled together, Red's food never ceased to impress, and Red never ceased to be cheered by compliments to her cooking.

Kaz, the strongest of the quartet, emerged from the tent. It was her job to stand between the monsters and the other three women, and to hurt the monsters when necessary, which she accomplished with a grappler's fury. Anything that threatened her friends, she would brutalize. And yet, in many ways, she was the softest of the four, sweet and friendly to anyone who wasn't posing a threat.

"Meat," Kaz said with a big grin. Then, "Tea?"

"I can put some on when the bacon is done."

"Good!" Kaz's grin widened. "Back soon."

The warrior had found a place nearby to perform her morning exercises. Nat had no worries about Kaz's safety away from the camp; she knew it was quite safe after her patrol.

Jon was the next to emerge. "The bacon smells fantastic."

Red beamed. "I'll get the tea on as soon as the bacon is ready. I think there will be gruel as well."

Despite his expensive taste and his apparent softness, Jon had proven an able companion. He was clearly no stranger to the life of an adventurer, even if he preferred a more sedentary existence. He had earned Nat's respect. All of their respect, really. Except possibly for Mac, who was more or less their leader, as much as they ever had one. Red found the jobs, made the deals; Nat did the research on the clients, sometimes covertly; but Mac made the final decisions on a lot of matters. She maintained a certain cool distance from Jon, didn't fully trust him, and Nat didn't really understand why. In service of that mistrust, Mac had assigned Nat, the light sleeper, the one who lay with her knives at hand, to share the tent with the employer. Still, the offer was too good to let go completely, and Mac figured that the four of them could handle a single archaeologist.

Mac stepped out of her tent, then. "Good morning," Jon said cheerfully as she did.

She nodded curtly. "Good morning. One last hot meal before the fortress, then?"

"That was my hope," Red replied.

"It will certainly be excellent. Pardon me." Mac headed off towards their privy.

"The food is about ready," Red said, taking the pan off the fire. "Jon, would you go and find Kaz?"

"Of course," he answered. "She'll be up in that clearing we found last night?"

"I suspect so."

Nat watched him head uphill. There was something else appealing about him, something she suspected at least one of her companions noted as well. She slipped up beside Red. "You're staring at his ass," she muttered in the cook's ear.

Red laughed. "Quiet!" She gave Nat a gentle shove away from the fire. "I was not!"

"Come on, we've all seen it." Nat giggled. "No shame in it. Mac had it bad for that bookkeeper who sent us after those spiders, remember? And I was nearly obsessed with the princess we were guarding that time."

"Okay, fine, he's actually been surprisingly useful for an employer. And helpful."

"And you like him."

"And I like him."

"Yeah, well." Nat shrugged. "It's a little odd, sharing a tent with him and imagining..."

"Better you than me!" Red laughed. "Alright, this is done, I'll put the tea on."

"Ladies?" came a call from up the hill. Jon's voice. It sounded slightly unnerved. "Some help?"

"I'll go," Nat offered. "It doesn't sound like it's a panic."

"Call out if you need anything," Red said as Nat departed.

Up in the place Kaz had scouted for her morning exercises, Nat found Jon and Kaz. Kaz was laid out face-first on the ground, while Jon was sitting nearby, looking mildly concerned. "I found her like this," he explained. "And she won't rouse."

Nat nudged the warrior with her foot. "Kaz?" Nat bent down and shook her. Nothing. "Huh. Well, she seems alright." She raised her voice to a shout. "Kaz? Kaz!"

"What's the racket about?" Mac asked, walking up.

"Jon came up to get Kaz for breakfast and instead found her sleeping like this," Nat explained.

Mac gave Jon a curious look. Jon raised his hands. "Nat has ably summarized the matter."

A movement in the underbrush caused Nat to jump, almost falling into Mac as she did so. Mac wasn't quite as quick to react but, seeing what Nat saw, pulled her aside and out into the clearing. "Hunter vines," Mac said. "Likely with a nightbloom nearby, which is what put Kaz to sleep."

Nat jammed her knives into the creeping, animate vine. "How come they didn't bother us last night?" she asked, slicing at the vegetation.

"They sleep, too." Mac traced a symbol in the air, then passed her hands over Kaz. "Awaken."

Kaz's eyes fluttered open. "Mac? Nat? Jon? What...?"

Nat and Mac helped the large woman to her feet. "Ah," Mac said. "There's the nightbloom." She brushed the remnants of the crushed flower off Kaz's front. "Without that, the hunter vines will have trouble snaring anything larger than an incautious rabbit. It must have surprised her with its pollen and she just—"

"Fell on it," Kaz finished. She stretched out an arm. "Sore."

"You don't seem to be hurt," Mac said. "All good to go back for breakfast?"

"Not hurt. Sore. Yes. Food."

Kaz didn't wait, heading back to the camp straight away. Mac paused to give Jon a look that Nat couldn't read before following. Nat and Jon waited a moment.

"I don't think she trusts me," Jon said.

Nat shrugged. "You're a stranger. She wants us to be safe. She doesn't really trust anyone who's not us."

"Ah, of course." He hesitated. "Do you trust me?"

"Well, two things about that. I have two daggers in my hands, which makes it a lot easier to trust someone unarmed; and I don't really have to worry about trusting someone, because Mac's here to not-trust them, you understand?" Nat giggled. "But yeah, I trust you, you've never given me a reason not to. Until you do, I trust you. Also, I'm hungry, so I don't really have a lot of energy to worry about it. Let's go eat!"

Jon agreed with a laugh and the two of them started walking back down to the campsite.

They knew they were close, and so took their time at breakfast, the leisurely, joking, friendly time of knowing that they were walking into some kind of danger. Then they had walked through the morning, uphill and down, it seemed to Nat that they were heading in constant circles. For some reason her sense of direction was an absolute mess, and the sun never seemed in the right place. They'd paused for lunch just out of sight of the entrance to the fortress, ate in companionable silence, and were now preparing for the final push.

"Anything more we need to know, Jon?" Red asked as Nat and Mac finished up cleaning the dishes.

"Only what I've already told you," Jon replied.

"Alright, ladies," Mac said, stretching. "Last check before we go."

Nat immediately tested the sharpness of her knives. Perfect. She adjusted the straps on her light padded armour, made sure her range of movement was ideal, and stretched herself. "Ready!"

"Me too," Red said, and Kaz echoed with a cheerful, "Yep."

Mac nodded. "Great. Let's do this."

Jon pointed. "Ten minutes that way."

They went up down into another valley and up one last hill, and they were there. It didn't look like much, just an incline down to a dark hole. "Not the first dank pit we've been in," Nat said.

"It's not all that dank," Jon replied. "It's actually pretty dry."

Red laughed. "Shall I light the way?" Without waiting for an answer that she knew would be positive, the loremaster stepped to the front and created a ball of light that floated over her head, and the four of them, with Jon bringing up the rear, headed down into the cave.

Their employer spoke in hushed tone. "The entrance has already been pretty well explored. The danger is inside."

"Which is why you hired us," Mac concluded.

With Red and Kaz leading and Mac and Nat behind, the five moved deeper, past the entry hall. Almost immediately, the hairs on the back of Nat's neck stood up, but before she could say anything, the light vanished. There was a deafening silence. Nat pressed herself against the wall, trying to be as small as possible out of instinct.

After a moment of nothingness, she risked a whisper into the dark. "Mac? Kaz? Red?"

No reply.

She slid along the wall in the same direction they'd been going before the light, and apparently her friends, vanished. Her forward hand hit another wall, made of wood instead of stone, and pressing her hands along the edge where wood met stone she soon found a metal hinge. Nat put her shoulder against the wood and pushed, and the door swung open. The room on the other side at least had enough dim light that she could get the layout. It seemed like a mess hall of some sort, with low stone benches at regular intervals; Nat imagined that perhaps the wooden tables between them may have rotted away. A dark figure sat on one of the benches about halfway across the room. The light seemed to seep in through the ceiling, grey and indirect.

"Hello?" Nat whispered. The figure didn't react. Nat carefully stepped across the floor. "Hello?" She put her hand on the figure's shoulder. It was cold, hard. In the shadows, she recognized Red's form, her face, but she'd been... transformed. Turned to stone. She was sitting casually on the bench, knees crossed and hands on her knee. Her gear, her clothes, were gone.

"Mac?" Nat risked calling out. The mage might know how to help.

"Nat?" a voice replied on the far side of the room. Not Mac. Kaz. She was standing in the doorway opposite where Nat had entered.

"Kaz? What's going on?"

Kaz shrugged. "Don't know. Light went out. All gone. Found you."

"Yeah, and Red's here. She's been turned to stone."

"Not good."

"Very not good. We need to find Mac."

"Yes. Find Mac."

So agreed, the two of them headed back the way Kaz had come.

"Any idea where Jon might be?"

"No."

"Yeah, that's what I figured."

The corridor was dark, but not impossible to see into. The two of them walked a ways before a soft but sharp click caught Nat's ear.

"Kaz!" she hissed. "Stop! Don't move!"

Kaz stopped. "What?" she whispered back.

"I heard a noise." Careful not to shift her weight too much, Nat ducked down to the ground, checking the tile beneath her feet. "Okay, let me look here..." She very carefully pressed the floor where Kaz was standing and found it ever so slightly loose. "You're on a pressure plate," she explained, standing up. "When you move, a trap will be set off."

Kaz nodded. "So do what?"

Nat crouched down again, sliding the point of one of her knives against the slight bend in the tile until she found a chip in the adjoining tile to brace against. She held it there. "Get clear," she said.

Kaz didn't hesitate, backing up towards the kitchen. "And you?"

Nat flattened herself against the ground and let her dagger go. She heard a second click and then the whoosh of darts firing over her head and the clatter of them hitting the wall, and then the floor. She picked one up that had landed beside her. It looked like a small knife with miniature fletchings, like a pixie's arrow. The sharp edge was sticky, likely with some kind of poison; Nat dropped it quickly, made sure she hadn't broken the skin of her finger, then wiped it thoroughly on the hem of her shirt. "All clear, I think, Kaz."

But Kaz was gone.

Nat ran back to the mess hall; Red still sat where she had been, but there was no sign of Kaz. A bit desperate, Nat ran back to where she had found herself when the light went out. "Kaz?"

No response.

"Okay. Fine. Let's just sort this out. Maybe I can find Mac. She always knows what to do." Nat continued down the hallway, moving carefully, listening for any other trap triggers she might stumble over. Nothing got in her way until she reached the other side, and a door. She pressed her ear to that door, and could hear some muffled voices.

"Why don't I move?"

Kaz. Had to be Kaz. She sounded mad.

"My lovely servant here,"—that sounded like Jon—"is an excellent sorceress, and she's bound you with a paralytic spell."

"Will break you."

"Oh, I don't think you will. Mac?"

Mac?

"Just listen to my soft words, Kaz."

Definitely Mac's voice.

"Mac, you don't—"

"Oh, but I do, Kaz. You just listen to me. Listen and obey, Kaz. What I say, do."

"What... you say..."

"Do."

"Do."

Mac was doing some sort of weird mind-control magic to Kaz. Nat had no idea Mac could do anything of the sort. But why would she—

"You've taken my lessons very well, Mac," Jon was saying. "Grabbing you first was my best idea."

"Thank you sir," Mac replied. "Kaz, find Nat. Bring her here."

There was no way she could outrun Kaz, and definitely couldn't out-fight her. Nat started moving away from the door. She had to stay hidden. Nat slipped back into the mess hall as she heard Kaz come out the other door. "Nat? Are you here?"

She didn't answer, just moved past the statue of Red and out the other door. She grabbed a couple of the darts from the floor as she scrambled past. The exit, she thought. I need the exit. Or some way to bring Red back. Or Kaz, or Mac. Maybe shanking Jon will solve everything. She doubted that shanking Jon would solve anything, let alone everything. Besides, it might not be what it sounded like. Though she couldn't imagine what it was, if not what it sounded like.

"Nat, it is safe, come with me!"

Not in the plan, giant, Nat thought, coming around a corner and pressing herself against a wall. She waited breathlessly, hardly even blinking, as Kaz sometime later made her way around the corner, looked directly at her, and walked past, calling to her.

She waited a full minute after Kaz had passed before stepping out and heading back towards the mess hall...

... and running directly into Mac, who was just approaching the corner.

"Oof! Mac! Thank the gods!" Nat said, thinking quickly. "The light went out and I was lost, and—"

Mac petted Nat's hair gently. "Shh, it's alright. Everything's fine."

Nat started to feel a bit lightheaded. "Everything..." The hair rose on the back of her neck.

"Yes, that's right, everything's just fine. Relax, Nat, and listen to my soft words, and—OW!" Mac's speech was interrupted by a cry of pain as Nat jabbed her in the thigh with one of the darts she'd retrieved. "What...? Ugh..."

Nat slipped out of her embrace, moving down the hall. "Let me know what the poison does!"

"Wait, Nat!" Mac leaned against the wall. "The shock... broke his hold..."

Nat skidded to a halt. "You're... you're okay now?"

Mac laughed. "No, I'm poisoned, apparently. But I'm not under his control. Ugh, what did you—"

"I don't know what I hit you with, before you ask. Poisoned darts from a trap. How do we fix Red and Kaz?"

"I can heal Red." Mac slipped to her knees. "Doesn't hurt, just... tired." Her hand and eyes glowed for a moment with an analytic spell. "It's a... sleeping... toxin..." She slid down the wall and closed her eyes.

That's a relief, assuming Mac's right. Though Nat saw no reason that Mac might be wrong. She turned around again and walked past Mac, now following Kaz. Sleep well, friend. She had another dart, it would be an easy thing to sneak up and give Kaz the same shock.

She wondered if Mac's words were what she'd heard Jon say. It's alright. Everything's fine. And that warm, comfortable, lightheaded feeling. It was so very nice. She walked on, curious about Jon's motives. Curious about Jon. If his magic felt as... warm as Mac's. If it just made everything so nice.

Kaz wasn't too far away, looking lost. "Nat!" she exclaimed, seeing the rogue. "Come with me. I must bring you to Mac." Her head darted around. "I do not know where that is."

Nat laughed. "I know where to go, Kaz."

Feeling warm and comfortable, she led Kaz back to where Mac lay sleeping. "Bring her along."

Kaz nodded obediently and gently lifted the limp Mac.

"Lay her down carefully in the mess hall and wait for me, I'll be right back."

"I can do that, Nat."

"Thank you, Kaz."

She moved through to the other corridor, finding the door she'd pressed her ear to, and strode in confidently.

"Jon."

Their employer turned. "Nat."

"You put some spell on Kaz and Mac."

Jon didn't even try to hide it. "I did. I want the four of you working for me, exclusively. And this seemed the best way."

"Why not enchant us at the inn?"

"I only have that power here, in this place. In this room. It's why I need people like you. To help me reach out to others."

Nat smiled. "Mac found me. I outsmarted her, but..." She sighed. "She started to use the same magic on me that she used on Kaz."

"Oh?"

The knives fell from Nat's hands. "It's wonderful."

Jon chuckled. "It is."

"I want more. I want that."

Jon seemed unsurprised. "Kneel."

Nat knelt, her smile widening. "You'll have to do more magic on Mac later."

"Nothing to worry about." Jon walked over.

"And Red?"

"Would have been able to break my magic with her own. When you're all under my control, she will be restored, and Mac will handle her."

His hand was on her head. It felt like Mac's, but also very different. She closed her eyes, and floated along as her thoughts melted together and changed.