Pushing forward to avoid the creature

"I don't think we should linger here any longer than we need to. We should try and find a wider cavern that gives us some room to either sneak around it or dodge its attacks if we have no other choice than to fight." Vex says, reaching over and wiping the liquid on the bottom of your cloak.

"Hey! Cut it out!" You protest, pulling it out of her grip. She simply smirks at you before standing up and walking over to Pike.

"I'm not very hungry at the moment, so you can have some of my rations for now."

"What? Vex, no. I can't take your food! It's not that bad, honest!"

Pike stomach betrays her as it growls again, louder than before and her face flushes red with embarrassment. Vex giggles softly before reaching into her pouch and pulling out a small ration bar. The group had purchased a bunch of these elven breads before the journey as emergency provisions in case the group got split up or Scanlan's mansion couldn't be conjured up. Each bar was enough to feed a person for a day (Or 3 per day for Grog).

"We need our healer in tip-top shape and we don't have time to rest here. Can't have you fainting on us before a battle even starts." Vex pushes the bar into Pike's tiny Gnome hands and gives her an encouraging wink. Pike mumbles a thank-you as she breaks of a piece and begins chewing on it.

You notice your sister doing a silent headcount before she walks back over to you and resumes leading the expedition. After a few more hours of walking, Vex raises her hand, signalling everyone to stop again. You can just make out on the very edge of the torchlight a fork in the path. You silently creep up behind Vex and whisper "Which way do we go? Any sign of the creature?"

Vex shakes her head. "Nothing so far. The odd patch of liquid and strange sweeping movements, but nothing beyond that. I need you to check around that corner as I do this one. I don't want to get attacked from behind."

Following her instructions, you swap to the opposite corner. She counts down with her fingers. 3...2...1... You both lean around your corners, scouring every crack and crevice in view for threats. Seeing nothing of note down your tunnel, you turn to your sister, checking that she is ok. The fact that she is still leaning out is a good sign that everything is safe at least, but something seems to have caught her eye. Following her gaze, you spot what seems to be a very faint glow on the wall in the darkness.

Vex looks over to you, one of her brows raised questioningly. You can only return a shrug though, as you have no idea what it is without getting any closer. Checking that the way is clear of any traps, you both approach the strange light.

"How odd. They seem to be runes of some kind." Vex remarks, tracing its outline with her fingers. "I feel like I recognise them somehow, but I can't read any of it. What do you think?" She moves aside to give you a better look.

You stare at it for a moment, sharing the same feeling that Vex described. The letters make no sense. The script seems flowing and graceful is some areas and angular and blocky in others. You have never seen any languages like this before. It's almost like someone mixed...

A gleeful laugh escapes you as the realisation hits you. Vex hurriedly clamps her hand over your mouth and hisses "Shh. What is wrong with you? Keep quiet, you idiot."

You reach up and remove her hand. "Sorry, but look here!" You point to one of the letters in the centre. Vex leans in closer, but her face remains confused. "Do you see this curve that wraps around the straight line here? And then it emerges down here under this second line." You move your finger around to highlight your epiphany.

"You might literally have to spell this one out for me, Brother."

"Okay, look what happens when I do this!" You stretch your fingers to cover as many of the straighter lines as possible without obstructing the curvier ones. Vex's face finally lights up in shared realisation.

"It's overlapping Elvish and Abyssal!" She moves back to the start of the runes and starts untangling the sentence. Working together, it doesn't take long for you to decipher its meaning. The Elvish provides directions straight to the city within 3 days, whereas the Abyssal directs you down a longer, but supposedly safer path within 5 days. Whoever wrote this was clever, as the Abyssal can only be understood after using directions taken from the Elvish, making the whole thing useless to anyone who doesn't know both languages.

"Nice catch Vax! But now we need to figure out which path to take. Outside of the mansion, our supplies are starting to get low, but I don't want us to do anything stupid after getting this far. What do you think?"