A Small Bribe

"You say it doesn't want to be left behind?" Karanos looked at Arran with a deep frown on his face. "Then it wants something? And you can sense it?"

Arran understood the mage's surprise perfectly. He hadn't spent much time with the ill-fated arming sword, but enough to know it held only a semblance of consciousness. And although he couldn't be certain, it was a fair guess that Karanos's weapon would be no more intelligent.

Yet the executioner's blade was different.

Even with Arran's weak connection to the weapon, he could tell that it held an intelligence and cunning far beyond anything a mere treasure should possess. And more than that, it held a sense of purpose — it wanted to escape.

"It wants to leave this dungeon," he said. Then, with some hesitation, he added, "And this world, I think."

"The sword has the right idea," Karanos said. "But now, decide if you want to keep it. Either way, we have to leave."