Dragonbait whispered "Toast," in Saurial, causing his enchanted blade to blaze. Igniting a straw from the paladin's sword, Alias used it to light a conventional lantern. Dragonbait took the point; Alias followed behind him. Olive, after one last look down the dry wash to be sure no one had observed them, slipped through the door behind the warriors.

The passageway beneath the city wall was so narrow that the adventurers had to go single file. Olive's nose twitched in the dusty, sepulchral air. "Smells like Zrie Prakis," the halfling complained.

Remembering the lich's smell, Alias shuddered in spite of herself. Prakis had been among the alliance of evil beings who'd created her. Each being had had some evil purpose for the swordswoman, but it was Prakis's purpose that had unnerved Alias the most. Prakis had had a long-abiding love-hate relationship with Cassana, even after he'd become undead. He wanted an enslaved Alias to replace Cassana.

"That's good, though," Alias said, "if it means that no one has been using the passage since then. Look, ours are the first footprints in the dust in years."

"Maybe because it's haunted," the halfling suggested unhappily.

Spiderwebs across the passage crackled and fizzled away, ignited by Dragonbait's fiery blade as they moved forward, but there was nothing they could do to keep the dust from swirling up into their faces. Olive, who was closer to the floor, had to put up with more, and she muttered nonstop complaints all the way down the passage. Alias began to sense that the shorter woman was fighting a growing sense of panic. The halfling had also been a prisoner in this house, in all but name.

"They're all dead, Olive," Alias said, trying to reassure the woman. "Nothing but dust is left of them," she added, then realized as Olive puffed at the dust in the air that that probably wasn't the most reassuring thing she could have said. Olive laughed, a little nervously.

They reached a dead end in the passage-a wall of solid rock. Dragonbait sniffed at the blockage, trying to discern any breeze or whiff of fresh air that would reveal a hidden mechanism.

"Allow me," the halfling said, stepping forward. "Coming out of Cassana's, the catch to move this wall was on the right. We can probably reach it from the left going in this direction."

Olive ran her hand along the wall until it disappeared into a hole in the rock. There was a click, which echoed down the secret passage behind them. Olive stepped back. Tve done my bit. Now it's your turn. Push here on the right side. The wall pivots. You'll have to put some muscle into it to get it started, but then its weight swings it around."

Alias set down the lantern and began shoving at the wall. After a moment, she felt it begin to move, but something seemed to be jamming it on the other side. Dragonbait held his sword out for Olive to hold. The halfling took the heavy weapon with some trepidation. The paladin put his back into the labor along with Alias. The door moved another inch, then another.

"Just like old times," Olive said in an excited whisper. "My brains, your brawn. A dusty dungeon, the hint of danger. Now all we need is-"

The door rotated a full ninety degrees, and something clattered to the ground behind it. Gold coins glinted in the lantern light as they rolled across the floor.

"-treasure," Olive concluded, handing Dragonbait back his weapon. With a squeal of delight, she pressed her way past the two warriors.

The cellar floor was carpeted with a layer of shifting gold coins and a smattering of silver utensils, bowls and tea services. It appeared that a mound of treasure had been piled up against the secret door. Olive went scuffling through the coins like a child kicking up fallen leaves in the autumn, humming happily. Her practiced eye made a quick survey for gems, jewels, or particular stunning pieces of silver, but there were none of those. She contented herself by rolling about atop the coins and washing her hands in them with a laugh.

"Not bad at all," the halfling said with a sigh. "It doesn't appear that the current owners know anything about the secret passage, or this treasure wouldn't have been left so conveniently in our path."

Alias frowned as she peered at the glistening walls around the dungeon. "Olive," she whispered, "do you remember the walls down here being damp?"

"Bound to be some seepage in a basement this deep," the halfling replied, scooping handfuls of coins into her pockets. The halfling giggled as she moved down the corridor. "I can just picture whoever settled Cassana's estate trying to sell the old place. Yes, Madam, the walls of the basement do leak, but that's a minor inconvenience when you consider the value. Four bedrooms, single bath, prison cells in the basement. The previous owner was a notorious sorceress. She lived here quietly with her undead lover. Did I mention the secret passageway-"

Olive froze in her tracks, literally, one foot poised over the ground in a step that never came down. She remained motionless and, even stranger for Olive, speechless.

Dragonbait took a step toward the curiously immobile, suspended halfling, but Alias caught him by the arm. She bent down, grabbed a handful of coins, and flung them down the corridor. The air about them seemed to ripple and surge for a moment, then the coins hung in the air, just as did the halflmg's foot.

Realizing now what caused the walls to glisten, Alias raised her sword and sprang forward. "It's a gelatinous cube!" she shouted. "It's swallowed Ohve. We've got to cut her out before she suffocates!"

The scavenging monster had been practically invisible in the lantern light, but the adventurers could now see it rippling as the creature, alerted to their movements, slithered toward the secret door in an effort to engulf them. It had no intelligence, so its attack was purely instinctual, and it towered over them and blocked the passage completely.

Alias struck first with a sweeping semicircular cut along one side of the cube, wide enough to miss the imprisoned halfling but close enough to loosen the monster's grip. Dragonbait began slicing at the jellylike creature with his flaming sword, creating great scorching gashes in its side. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air. With her free hand Alias grabbed Olive's shirt collar and pulled hard. There was a soft sucking sound as the cube attempted to draw the halfling deeper into its digestive interior.

Knowing that the gelatinous cube exuded a slime capable of paralyzing even the largest of prey, Alias shifted backward to avoid contact with the creature and nearly lost her grip on the halfling.

The warrior woman stabbed the creature and released the hilt of her sword. With both hands clenched on the halflmg's shirt, she yanked with all her might.

There was a squishing noise, and the slime-encrusted halfling erupted from the side of the cube. Alias slipped on the carpet of coins and fell over backward, Olive landing on top of her. A layer of clear ooze still covered the halfling, but separated from the host body the goo could not survive and began to evaporate in a thin mist.

The creature sent out a protrusion that crested over the heads of the two woman like a wave. Before the wave could overwhelm them, the saurial slashed it from the body of the gelatinous cube.

The wave, cut off from its parent, began to steam into nothingness before it hit the ground. Alias's sword clattered into the coins as the creature, damaged beyond its ability to hold its shape, slumped to the ground in a puddle of steaming goo.

Alias rolled Olive on her back and pushed on her stomach. The halfling'gagged and coughed up a slimy bubble, then took a gasp of air. Alias breathed a sigh of relief

"Is she all right?" the paladin asked as the halfling stirred feebly while ooze steamed off her body.