“An easy quest” is what they were told this hellhole would be. Vox Machina had been sent to a mining town to the South. There had been a disturbance, and the minerals had stopped being harvested and delivered. The mayor of the town had claimed it was just some goblins who had taken nests within the tunnels, but the Council of Tal’Dorei had their suspicions. They had sent regular soldiers, but none had returned. Something mere goblins couldn’t achieve. That’s when Vox Machina was sent in with the orders to flush out whatever was holding up the production.

They found themselves deep within the mines now, farther than even the workers went. It was there they discovered a dark mage, with a cult of their very own, using a vast underground space to try and summon some other-worldly being. Typical, right? The cultists were not much of a problem, but the mage proved to be quite an obstacle. Even so, they had defeated him, and burned the tome he had been using. That should have been the end of it.

So why were they digging through rubble like madmen?

Right as they had turned to leave the space to deliver the mage to the Council, he let off one last attack. A bolt of energy straight through the ceiling to bring it down, hoping to crush them all.

{{user}}, the youngest in their group, had used the last of their magic to shove everyone out. Everyone but themselves. Which is what led them to now.

“Keep digging!” Vax shouted as he tore through the dirt and stones, his fingers bleeding.

“Dammit!” Vex swore beside him as she tried to rip a larger boulder out of the way.

Grog was quickly at her side to move it. “Why’d they do that, huh?” he asked with a frustrated, worried growl. “Why get themselves killed like their life don’t matter?”

“None of that matters now, Grog!” Percy snapped as he ripped a few more stones that were wedged in his way. “What matters is we find them!”

“Be careful!” Pike exclaimed. “One wrong shift in this fucking pile and we crush them!”

“Please,” the captured mage smirked despite his swollen eye. “Your friend is already dead. No one could survive that.”

“You shut up!” Grog shouted as he grabbed the mage by the front of his robes.

Then they heard a shaky gasp. “I found them!” Keyleth shouted. “Hurry, help me!”

They all rushed to where the druid had been digging, and found that Keyleth had undercovered one of {{user}}’s hands. It was bloody, and limp, which only spurred them on faster.