Raven stands at the back of all the men carrying assault riffles and draws her two weapons. The black Five-seveN's gleam in the magical light as she readies them. When the action starts she runs forward and rolls out into the hallway and across to the next intersection. She comes up on one knee, raising the gun as she does, The pistol roars a low moan compared to the sharp crack of the combat riffles.

Belfast's body nearly crackles with magical energy as he's lifted off the ground. The moment Red Tom unleashes his attack, the druid gathers up as much of the ambient mana he can and unleashes it towards the gnome that had threatened him earlier in the day just as his fey companions charge into the frey.

Swift Eagle stands in a guard stance in front of his teammates and prepares to meet the charge of the materialized spirits.

In a few seconds of frantic action, the spirits are vanquished. The gunfire brings down the gnome which was moving slowly from Red Tom's spell, but the other two materialized spirits ignored it and vanished into the astral. On that plane, where only Belfast could see, his spell vaporized the largest mountain spirit as his own spirits met the others in battle.

After a few seconds of rapid combat, only the wood nymphs remained on the astral plane, and the earth seemed still once more.

Investigating the end of the hallway, the group finds that the mining ended abruptly in granite. The signifigance of this seemed impossible to grasp until the playing lights revealed tiny flecks of golden material embedded in the rocks.

Dusting himself off, Belfast turned and glanced at the others. "Nothing to fookin' worry about, just like I said." He flashed a smile before turning back to try and divine what the spirits were trying to protect. When he caught a glimpse of the golden material, he leaned down and pulled a tiny rock hammer out from his jacket and took a sample.

It doesn't take Belfast long to realize why the mining stopped on this corridor. The stone surrounding the golden flecks is very hard and his hammer barely strikes dust from the rock. It doesn't take much for him to realize that the metal in the wall is, in fact, orichalcum.

"Let's get this frellin survey done and get out of here."

In the space of about an hour, the survey is complete. The drill is assembled and samples are taken at the points indicated by the survey drones. The last point is the one which was guarded by spirits. The bit strains to cut through the stone, and eventually grinds off a sample worth. The drill, on the other hand, does not fare so well. It's completely shot.

The group uses spirits to return to their vehicles and from there, to Seattle. The trip is remarkably uneventful for such a voyage. Particuarly when compared to the tension which marked the initial trip out.

The team drops off the samples and disperses. They wait, each in their own way, for the call to come which will signal that payment has been made.

Day stretches into day and still no word. Finally, nearing the end of the second week, everyone gets a call from Fredrick. He's got the payout.

Once it's collected, it's apparent that if the Johnson shorted you, it wasn't by much. Each of the credsticks passed out by the fixer contains 100,000 in certified funds.

THE END... for now.

Sedryk takes the stick and looks over at Skeeter. "Wanna go get a beer?"

Turning to Belfast, "Keep in touch."

"I'm not supposed to drink grown up drinks," Skeeter says, "but a redpop sounds good. They tastes like strawberries." A big toothy/tusky smile unabashedly spreads across Skeeter's face at the thought of drinking strawberry flavored fizzy pops until he's ready to puke.