You know this isn't going to be easy and you're going to have to be tough, but you remember that you're doing this for your family. You quickly search Formeli's body, which didn't have that much to begin with.

"Heh, he always was a broke bastard. Spent all his money on gambling, I'll miss taking his money that's for sure. Alright then, you'll probably be wantin' to take that sword of his since it looks in way better condition than your rusted hunk of iron. Your bow seems to do the job just fine though. His armor too, and hurry up, we gotta meet the Boss! He's got another job for us no doubt."

As you're stripping off some of the armor, Dimitri notices something on your back.

"What…what the hell is that boy? Is that a fuckin' lute? Haw haw! What the fuck are you doin' with a damn lute? You think that you're some sort of bard or something? We ain't got need for such things boy! Get rid of it!"
"No, it's mine." You defiantly say.
You wonder if this show of "courage" has gotten you into a whole mess of trouble that you don't want, but fortunately it doesn't.

"Heh, he kills one shithead and now he thinks he's a tough guy! Alright pig farmer keep your sissy lute. But its just more weight for you to carry and you better not be falling behind! Come on men let's go, the Boss is waiting for us. You too lute boy!" Dimitri exclaims and limps off. You briefly thought about telling him that he better keep up with his wounded leg and all, but you know when to stop.

And so your mercenary life begins.

A year passes…

You're currently back in the Zalan Empire on a break in between missions. While most of your "buddies" are drinking up their pay and spending it on whores you take this opportunity to visit your family and give them your payment and spoils of battle as usual.

You think about how much you've traveled and experienced. Not all of it good, but then killing is never pretty. Some of the jobs are very straight forward: "There are some orc barbarians on the borders that have been pillaging our lands, kill them." And you don't have a problem with it. Other missions start falling into the "gray" area.

Your last job involved some Azi Republic senator hiring the company to take out some secessionists that wanted to form their own country. It wasn't clean and it definitely wasn't fun. The secessionists actually had a reasonable complaint about leaving the Republic, saying that it was corrupt and that their representatives didn't care about them. But being a mercenary means you don't take sides for moral or ideological reasons, you do it for money.

It's not just that though, some of the things that have been done…well you can't say you're too proud of it. Granted, you've never actively engaged in some of the less moral and outright criminal things that your mercenary comrades have, but you certainly know about them and it almost makes you feel like you're guilty of it as well.

As for how you cope with some of this stuff, you tend to keep to yourself and play your lute which has oddly made you a little more accepted. Seems there are more than a few music lovers in the company. Even the Captain doesn't mind you indulging in your little hobby. The Captain is a huge man who you know gets a pleasure from killing and mayhem. He's spent a lifetime doing it. In fact you have a hard time believing he even has a family that he goes to visit. Who knows though? Perhaps he is different with them.

(You've been working for the Chimera Company for a year and you still don't know what the hell his real name is, mainly because everyone only seems to address him as "The Boss" or "Chief" or in a more formal tone "Captain")

You spend the time with your family and tell them of some of the things you've seen and exciting places you've been to, of course never going into too much detail about the darker side of things. Your brothers and sisters enjoy the tales as usual. Your Mom senses that there is probably more to them, but she doesn't ask too many questions. She does always asks if you're okay and says that you don't have to keep doing it, but you always reply that you're fine and that you're just a little tired that's all.

When your time is done you say goodbye to them and meet with the rest of your company at the Zalan capital this time. Its odd, but things seem to be even more chaotic than usual around here. People are rushing around and an air of concern seems to be pervading the city.

The guards are telling people to calm down our there will be martial law and you hear something in passing about an attack on a city. You don't really listen because you're in a hurry to meet up with your company which you find mostly hanging out in a tavern as usual.

Dimitri sees you and speaks.

"Ah, it's our own fuckin' bard ! How's my favorite string plucker? (Hic!) You have trouble getting into the city? Heard the guards have been cracking down on security."
"No, but what's going on? The city seems to be in a state of panic."
"Fuck yeah it is! What you didn't hear?"
"No. What happened?"
"Fuckin' undead happened my pig farming friend! A whole shitload of them took over the the city of Nuro! Can you believe it? Fuckin' Nuro! That place was supposed to be unconquerable! Heh! (Burp!)" Dimitri says without the slightest bit of worry.
"UNDEAD?! What the fuck? Nuro!? How?!"
"Fuck if I know, guess some rogue wizards got hooked up in that necromancy shit hardcore. Musta been some demonologists there too since we heard reports of demons too. Not the supposedly civilized type either, they're the rip off your head and shit down your neck kind."
"…there's fuckin' rogue demons in Nuro too?"
"Of course not, they all escaped and are now running around in the countryside, heard they're heading for the Tulan Kingdom." Dimitri says taking another drink.

You're having a hard time digesting all this yet the rest of your comrades are still drinking and partying like nothing is wrong. Your Dad had once told you tales of a being called the Great Lich Lord that existed many centuries ago who nearly killed the world. Scared the hell out of you then and it doesn't make you feel too good now.

"Isn't this concerning to you?"
"What? Shit no! Just means more work for us and that also means more loot! Ha ha! You could get more loot to buy a new lute! Ha ha ha! (Hic!)"
"But this is the fuckin' undead! I mean…"
"So? Stop bein a pussy! I've fought some undead before, when I was lootin' a dwarven tomb. You just chop their heads off like everything else, shit ain't that hard. They just tend to smell worse…well maybe not worse than trolls. Anyway I'm sure the fucking governments will take care of this shit as quick as possible, you know how politicians don't like dead taxpayers, in the meantime we need to take advantage now while the conflict is hot!"

No sooner has Dimitri said this little bit of wisdom, when the Boss steps in the doorway. He's as nasty looking as always, but this time he looks even moreso than usual.

"Alright you useless sacks of goblin shit. We got a new job. This one just came across rather unexpectedly. Ran into a Dwarven representative and we're now in the employ of a Dwarven Clan, near the southern Tulan Borders. With the occurrence of this Nuro incident, they're expecting some shit to spill over into their lands and they want some extra help. This is pretty surprising since Dwarves aren't known to pay for mercenaries, let alone the likes of us." The Boss tell you all.
"The Tulan Border? Oh fuck that place is a meat grinder! There's no profit to be had anywhere near there!" Cal pipes up.
"Well you can just pick up your panties and get your pansy ass back home and stay there then! The dwarves are paying well and that's the job. Take it or get the fuck outta my company!"
"Excuse me Captain, but weren't there reports of demons running through that area?" you ask.
"Yeah so? That's why we're going over there most likely, but be fucking prepared for any damn thing. Maybe even undead…who knows if my…if those necromancer bastards started spreading their plague yet. We leave tomorrow."

You think on this fucked up situation and seriously reconsidering your career choice.

You stick with it

You're in this now and you can't stop just because it's looking tough. You got your family to think about. You're staying.

However you do, do something slightly out of character, you spend what little money you have on a whore for the night, mainly because you're a lot less sure if you're going to come back from this mission.

The next day you're on the job. The march to the dwarven lands is mostly uneventful, though the fighting between the Zalan Empire and the Tulan Kingdom is still going on their borders which even skirting around, still manages to find your company. The Boss takes advantage of straggling Tulan soldiers that have fled battle. The butchery isn't uncommon, after all, nobody will know and the Zalan Empire will just be blamed anyway.

Arrival in the Dwarven lands is met with caution, the Dwarves obviously know of the Chimera Company's reputation and a small group of them motion the Boss to just talk to him directly. A deal seems to be made and the Dwarves leave to go back to their underground home.

The Captain now addresses all of you.

"Alright, apparently there HAVE been demons running all up and down and through the area. The Dwarves are preparing defenses in case they try to invade underground; apparently they consider their underground city takes precedence so their main force is there. However they still have plenty of mines above ground and not nearly enough dwarves to defend them all. Now its been said the demons have been heading toward the Tulan Kingdom, but a lot of them still have been fucking around here and generally wrecking shit for the fun of it. Collapsing even the sturdy mines of the dwarves on their heads seems to be amusing to them. So our goal is to make things bothersome enough for them that they'll leave the dwarves alone and go elsewhere."

The Captain spits on the ground before continuing.

"We're going to split up for this assignment and take different mines in the area. Watch your fucking ass. I don't think any of you eunuchs have fought any demons before, but I have and they're utterly fucking ruthless. Forget all that shit about some of them being civilized. They're about as civilized as damn Quillar, but a lot more intelligent. The chaos that is in their hearts is always there and these ones are the complete embodiment of it. And for fuck's sake DON'T stay near any explosives! The dwarves are always using shit like that in their mines and demons have a tendency to have fire throwing abilities. It's probably the reason for all the easy mine collapses."

The Captain takes out a map.

"One more thing. While I know the common thing to do on our assignments is to take advantage of things. We need to play this one completely fucking straight! Do NOT fucking do anything that's going to piss off the dwarves! If you do, we don't get paid. We don't get paid. I'm going to get pissed, because we're getting a lot for this one. And assuming the dwarves don't kill you, I certainly fucking will. Alright now I'm going to assign you according to this map."

You and a few others (Including Dimitri) are assigned to the Karzac Mines where you make your way to after some climbing which fortunately isn't too far off ground level. The dwarves there regard you with suspicion immediately.

"Oh great they're here. Alright, let's set the ground rules. I'm head miner Morri and I'm in charge of this place! Don't even think about trying to steal some loose bars of silver that you might find lying around. You do it, and your skull meets an axe or mining pick! Got me?"
"Stand up when you speak to me." Dimitri laughs.
"Yeah, make yer jokes human, we'll see if the demons will appreciate that humor when you're meeting them face to face."
"Demon, pah! Just one more thing for me to kill, people make a big deal about them. I've seen how they fall in line and become law abiding citizens just like anyone else when beaten down."
"Yeah and those same civilized ones will kill you when they get the chance. Didn't you hear the Captain?" you say.
"Yeah well he's got a tendency to be over dramatic; he probably picked that up from that fine ass elven bitch he's married to. Besides who DOESN'T try to kill you when they get the chance? They aren't anything special. Their race just has a tendency to have assholiness come natural to them."

Morri interrupts the pair of you.

"Hey if you two morons are finished, I'm about to tell you the fun part of this job. There are demons already in this mine."
"What?!"
"Oh yeah, bunch of those fuckers as we speak. Seems we got the fortune of one sneaking in here and decided to have her spawn in the deep reaches of this mine. The only good thing is these types don't seem to be interested in collapsing the mine, however they're trying to turn this place into some sort of fucking demon hive or something. We've been trying to eliminate them, but of course it's slow going. We need to get them before they start breeding more though. So we're splitting up…"
"Here we go again…" Dimitri says.

Morri assigns at least a few dwarves with each mercenary. You, Morri and Dimitri make up the last one.

The demon hunting in the mines is actually a very "mundane" job. They certainly are horrible looking creatures and very vicious, but after the first few times, you get used to it. These particular demons have an insect like appearance so maybe that's why these behave the way they do. They aren't very tough in the scheme of things, but like Morri said there do seem to be a lot. You can't use your bow like you want to either due to the cramped mine conditions.

Demons aren't really the problem though, the problem is Dimitri.

After one of the harder battles, Morri is attempting to catch his breath. Dimitri notices the very large silver deposit you're next to and the silver that's just there for the taking. He quietly whispers to you that you and he should waylay Morri and take some of the silver. Leave his body to be munched on by a wandering demon. Who's going to know?

You're not really for this plan and you say no, but Dimitri begins to argue and Morri notices the both of you.

"I'm not doing it! The Captain said…" you exclaim.
"Fuckin' pussy!" Dimitri says pushing you.
"Hey hey hey! Not doing what? What are you two on abo…"

Dimitri takes the opportunity of distraction and hits Morri in the face with silver bar that he lifted off the ground earlier.

" Ugh! Bastard dog you'll pay for this treachery!" Morri utters falling to the ground.
"Come on, this is your last chance to be a man and help me pig farmer!" Dimitri says as he goes to finish off Morri.

You help Dimitri

You hate yourself for this, but you feel you don't have much choice, if Morri lives he'll certainly tell everyone and then you won't get paid which will probably result in your death by the hands of the Boss. You raise your own weapon and help kill Morri. He doesn't die easy, but Dimitri finishes him off before he can put up any sort of meaningful defense.

Breathing hard and smiling at you with blood on his face, Dimitri laughs a bit.

"Heh heh, knew you'd see the light, lute boy! Now come on, let's throw his body in that left passage. I think I heard some of those demon roaches chittering down that way. Let's just make sure we're not around eh? We got a lot of silver to load up on!"

You don't take any of the silver actually, you're still worrying and not feeling right about this whole situation, of course that just means more for Dimitri.

You don't even think this half assed plan of Dimitri's is going to work. You and Dimitri are going to look mighty suspicious meeting up with the other dwarves without Morri, and trying to conceal a shitload of silver, though Dimitri claims everything will be fine.

Everything goes less fine when you start to realize that Morri was the one who was leading you through this mine maze. Neither you or Dimitri were paying attention to the directions mainly because you were on the look out for demon attacks and fighting them off.

Eventually you're attacked by more of the demons as you proceed to get lost. You and Dimitri get into an argument and begin to blame each other (Though it really is his fault) You both get angry and come to blows, you however get the advantage, not being weighed down by silver. You leave his body for the demons.

You however don't get too much further. The demons seem to be coming out in more force and you're wounded many times. You get scared and confused and you know you're a dead man when you see Morri's body being eaten by several of demons. You've gone in a complete circle and now you're hearing that demon chittering from everywhere.

A valiant effort is made by you, but you can't fight them all. Eventually you are overwhelmed and eaten.