Muscular, scaly backs

"Me?" Bardeelus asked, bluntly.

He appeared oblivious, which wasn't so helpful. The host expected Bardeelus to be a genius, or a magnificent mage at least, which was a standard difficult to live up to. 

He browsed the best words to say, couldn't find any, and blurted. "I'm a pretty nice guy."

The wordplay, as expected, wasn't convincing whatsoever. The host was noticeably irritated, and felt as if he had wasted a lot of time too.

He said, "You can take your sister and go. The first deal still stands, but you can't take these two other ladies with you."

Afterwards he walked towards the door, and said. "If you want to earn leverage, however, have your illusionist help us with a little problem. If you help us, you can take these two other slaves along. It would be fair."

"Fair… unlikely. Your 'superior' kind always wants and strives for an upper advantage." Bardeelus said.

It was true, and the host knew it. However, much like a superior, he didn't handle disrespect so lightly. Any and all deals were at risk on that very second, and Bardeelus felt stupid about speaking out the truth, he also felt a bit scared for his sister's fate.

At that moment however, like a hero, Audera diminished the dense air with her services as an aid. "Why are we still debating this? We need these couple of slaves, and besides, this job would have me do stuff I already know; Illusionist stuff is easy for me."

She was playing along, of course, as she knew what the actual deal was. Although these 'intelligent' scorpions acted great and holy, they'd still be accepting dead people in their midst, if this deal went through!

Audera felt happy about this, and felt smarter than them in comparison. Likewise she was willing to cooperate, to push this plan further.

"Superior race my ass! We already won." She thought.

The host seemed just a little bit more excited now, and subtly asked. "You're the illusionist, huh? You're young, but still useful. Follow me now, I'll show you what the problem is about." 

She cooperated. The rest of the team followed after her, which was natural at this point. The team had no moral dilemmas anymore, and were ready to fight for one another now, more than ever.

Likewise, they didn't trust what some scorpion guy had to say, so they didn't let Audera wander off alone.

The 'slaves' were brought along too, for proximity's sake. Bardeelus winked at his sister, but didn't speak too much. It was best to avoid suspicion, but by now, she had understood the good intent and cooperated. 

Fenik, the cowardly brother, was still in a sack. Audera's powers kept him asleep so he wasn't much of a problem. In a sense though, all three siblings were together now, which felt a bit sweet.

Anyway, in the meantime, Bardeelus tried to become more and more conscious. The lies they ran across that shed got them far enough, but these scorpions still were and behaved superior.

He didn't want to randomly end up as a slave. He barely knew anything about these scorpions, so it was difficult to predict or grasp the threat factors. Caution was a must.

Bardeelus became observant, and when they entered the mine, he picked up several details of how scorpions use their powers.

"Scorpions are working the mines… but they're supposed to be superior?" He thought.

Some things couldn't be ignored. When Bardeelus pictured a superior race, he thought of a kind who used 'lowly' races to do all of their labor. The expectations were logical, but no, it was not the case here.

The scorpions were using their powers to break through the hard rock or basalt, and they didn't seem like they needed any help either. The mines already seemed wide, and likely expansive too.

The main route of the mine was just under ten meters wide! It was manmade, which labeled its width all the more impressive. It was amazing, but now, he understood how they did all of this. 

The team passed a few scorpion men, who were working their powers through the hard stone. Through this raw presentation of power, he understood why these mostly human-looking people were called 'scorpions'.

Upon will, a massive, green scorpion tail materialised behind their backs. This tail was purely made out of magic, it was massless, light-like but it was exceptionally destructive!

The scorpions launched their tails against the stone, which in exchange, efficiently exploded the barricade into many pieces. The radius against stone was about a whole, spherical-meter, and the remains were almost equal to powdery dust!

"Guess that's why they need slaves… to clean up dust and shit?" He thought. 

It was difficult to figure out the entire hierarchy or working process of these mines, but at least he was sure that there was no messing with these scorpions. They seemed too powerful, and the scales made them look even more intimidating!

"Wonder if their scales are failed shots," He thought, "It would be stupid to ask about them too. One strike and my guts could probably turn into dirt… nah, gotta play it cool."

He was self aware enough to figure that out, but after a split second, he was distracted by another aspect of this half-assed tour. 

The ladies, as they followed Audera through the mines, had been very attentive as well. They inevitably noticed how gorgeous the scorpion men were, or, at least their backs.

The scorpions were mostly naked here, which made sense, as they had to battle the excessive dust. Dust was less of a problem when it couldn't find much clothes to stick on.

However, Bardeelus and the rest, had a good look at the many muscular backs. These scorpions were handsome, and really strong too. Dots of scales spread randomly across their skin, which made them look exotic too!

He didn't know how to feel about this, and thought. "Fucking hell, they're making the girls straight again! Maybe that works out for me later on, but now I feel like a twig."

Anyway, this light embarrassment was put to an end. The team was led about one-hundred meters within the well-lit mine, where they were introduced to the problem which required the help of an illusionist.

They were led to a ditch, which seemed endlessly deep, dark and unexplored. Audera immediately guessed what the problem was.

Before the host could explain the issue, she said. "There are bugs down here, and you want me to count them all. I obviously can't kill them all, so that has to be it."

"We did the counting," The host corrected her, "There are six-hundred and twenty-two bugs there. Blistering hot, red bandits to be exact. They're like bees, without wings."

"Okay…" Audera stretched that word, "What do you need me for?"

"I need you to draw them out, to trick them. If you can lead them to the lake nearby, they'll die in a snap." The host explained, "This is my offer, and I don't accept another deal."