Renault blinked as the singing stopped again. His heart clenched when he could no longer hear it and he shook his head. He didn’t like that something, or someone, was fucking with his head and making him move. Kenshin was nowhere to be found either. Not even a peep from the Spirit. 

He glanced around the temple that he’d walked into. Boris was in front of him and William to his side. A look behind told him that Frederick and Mina had also entered the temple. 

There were several doorways down the hall. Some had doors, others didn’t. He couldn’t see the end, but he assumed it was just more of the same. He didn’t wait for the others and headed into the room closest to him on the left. 

The room inside appeared to be some sort of prayer room. There was decrepit rug on the floor, and long-faded tapestries hung on the wall. A podium sat at the back of the room, perfectly in the middle. 

He stepped out and turned, watching as the others went to explore their own rooms. Renault headed further down the hall, the wall sconces lighting as he advanced. He glanced up at them, that was a useful trick. 

The next room he went into had a bed, wardrobe, desk, and a chair. As did the next few he entered. 

A shout came from even further down and he headed forward, half-running. It had sounded like Frederick.

He found the prince staring in awe and wonder at the large room that was chock full of books. A library.

Frederick had an entire armful of various books and ledgers by the time the others came into the room, his eyes bright and excited.

“We could find someone to translate these! They could have untold amounts of information in them!” He moved over to them as he stuffed the books carefully into his bag. “If we can figure out a way to get here without falling into the ravine, as well as getting out, we could send more people here to get the rest of the books.” 

“Da!” Boris nodded eagerly, his tail wagging happily.  He also had an armful of books and papers now.

Renault frowned. “Bringing those with us ain’t a good idea. They’ll probably get ruined,” he pointed out.

The two men paused and glanced at each other and then back to him. 

Was…Was the prince pouting? Seriously? Renault shook his head. “Like you said, if we can figure a way out, we can come back with more people to gather things up.” he crossed his arms and settled a glare on the both of them. 

They both slowly put the books down on one of the tables scattered about the large room. 

The rest of the rooms were a mixture of more prayer rooms, bedrooms, a kitchen with rotted food and rusty pans, and a dining area. They had finally reached the edge of the hall. 

The door was framed with images of the ocean and various sea creatures carved into the stone. There was no actual door on it, more of an entryway. Renault couldn’t see anything inside. The darkness swirled inside the frame. 

“I don’t like thi-” Renault didn’t finish his sentence. She was there, on the other side of the door. So close. Her voice so divine. He had to know what she looked like, he had to taste her. He strode straight the door. 

The shadows tugged on his clothes, at his hair. They caressed his skin and whispered to him. Then they were gone. 

He didn’t care what the room looked like, his focus was on the large tank in the middle of the expansive room.

She was gorgeous. Her green locks flowed gently around her body, wrapping around her arms, her torso, her tail. Her bright, blue eyes drew him in. Sensual lips that begged to be kissed and breasts that yearned for his touch. She was perfect in every way.

He had to get to her. He had to get into the tank with her. He needed to take her into his arms and show her what true pleasure was. 

He headed for the wooden stairs that were connected to the side of the tank. 

A red-head placed herself between him and his love. He scowled and narrowed his eyes. She didn’t deserve the breath it would take to tell her to move. The large, armoured man was in front of him and simply picked the woman up and moved her to the side. Her kicking and flailing didn’t deter the large man, or Renault, from their mission. He didn’t mind sharing her if she wanted that. He’d do anything for her, be anything for her. 

He was halfway up the stairs when he broke out of the trance once more. That screeching, he winced away and looked over just in time to see a glass tank shatter and water push Mina and Frederick.

There was the corpse of a…creature on the floor, steam rising from its flesh. He jumped over the rail of the stairs and landed with a splash. He walked over to the creature and bent down to study it. 

Its hair was like seaweed and its skin was so pale it was almost translucent. Gills split its neck and ribs on either side. A fish tail started at the hips and held brilliant, emerald scales.

Mina was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall and her clothes drenched. Her chest rose and fell in great heaves. Small trickles of blood escaped from the various gashes and scrapes along her arms and hands. 

Boris was on his knees—not having made it on the stairs—with his hands covering his ears. 

The wench stood slowly, legs trembling as she walked over to the creature and pointed a singular finger at it. A butterfly made its wait from the digit and landed upon the corpse and it burned, quickly. Leaving nothing but a charred, smoking body. 

Frederick walked through the door, shivering as he glanced around. “What happened? I heard screaming.”

Mina gestured at the creature. “The singing was coming from that…thing.”

The prince stared down at it, his eyes wide. “It was a siren…how did it get here?” He glanced at the shattered glass littered about the floor. “It was in a tank I’m assuming?”

Mina nodded. “Yeah, I destroyed it and then killed the blasted thing.” She stared down at it.

Frederick frowned and bent down next to the corpse to study it. He stood after a moment and looked in the corner of the room and his face lost several shades of color.  “I think we found what happened to the outpost soldiers.”

Renault followed his line of sight to the discarded armour and bones. He walked over and knelt down next to a pile of the bones and picked up a cylindrical metal necklace that was still wrapped around the neck of one of the skeletons. “They would have had to come down here at least several weeks ago.” 

The prince stopped next to him and scanned the bodies and then back towards where the tank had been. “At the least,” he muttered. 

“Did you not send anyone to the outpost for supplies and reports?” Renault asked, staring up at the red-head.

“We don’t typically send supplies after the outpost has been established for over a year. By that time they have their own way of obtaining supplies,” Frederick explained.

“Is tragic. Good we found what happened. Now, how do we get out of here? This place gives me creeps,” Boris said from his spot still on the stairs. 

Frederick scowled and whipped around. “These were friends. They had family, loved ones. Gives us a moment to grieve their loss,” he snapped.

William had made his way over to Frederick and Renault and was holding a helmet with a red cardinal painted on the side. His shoulders were slumped and shook slightly as he stared at it.

Mina walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm. Neither of them said anything. 

Renault thinned his lips as he watched them. “I don’t think there’s much more danger here, now that the siren is dead. We haven’t seen any evidence of other demons in the area.”

Boris let out a frustrated sigh and then sat down on the stairs, his ears flattened and his tail hitting the side of the wood hard.

“Go back? What about the mission?”

Renault turned back towards Mina, William, and Frederick when he heard her question. 

“The three of you can go on ahead, William and I will catch up after we deliver the news to the families of the fallen. They deserve to know sooner rather than later.”

“I agree,” Renault said from behind Mina. “Not hearing from someone, knowing that they’re in a potentially dangerous place? Worrying if they’re dead or alive? It ain’t fun.”

She glanced back at him, those amber orbs studying him for a moment. “Alright. The three of us will go ahead and we’ll head out after you collect their personal belongings used to identify them?”

“Yeah,” Frederick’s voice was barely audible.

Together the four of them gathered the small metal pendants and the prince placed all of them into a handkerchief that he had pulled out of his pocket and gingerly placed them into his bag.

They began searching the room for a way out. There were smaller rooms off to the side, but all the ones Renault walked into were completely bare of anything.   

“There’s a stairway over here!” Frederick’s voice sounded distant. 

He left the room he’d just walked into and headed in the direction of the prince’s voice. 

The entrance to the stairway was as innocuous as it could be. Just a simple hole in the wall with ragged edges. He glanced between the opening and William. Was the big guy going to be able to fit?  

“I’ll fit,” William said. 

Renault blinked and then shrugged. Boris was the first into the door, followed by Mina, Frederick, and then himself. William had to turn to the side, and the sound of metal scraping against hard rock grated against Renault’s ears, but he was able to get in. 

There were no wall sconces to light their way. Mina remedied that with her butterflies. Each of them had four floating about them. They could see, but just barely.

The staircase itself was large, the stairs however, they were tiny. Renault had to be careful how he stepped or he’d go tumbling backwards. William had an even harder time of it. He never complained though when he missed a step or slipped. 

There were small alcoves where they would rest and sleep as they made their way up. Renault had a sneaking suspicion they were in the mountains at this point. They’d stopped thrice. He was pretty sure they should have been out of the ravine by that point. 

He let out a frustrated breath from where he leaned against the wall. “We gotta be getting out of here soon,” he grumbled. He was tired of being underground. 

Mina nodded. “I think we may be, it can’t go up for much further, right?”  She glanced at Frederick.

The prince frowned and ran a hand through his hair, “I’d assume so, I think it’s been a couple of days.” 

He paused and held up a finger to his mouth and furrowed his brows. “Do you hear that?” 

“Hear wha-” Renault started, but Mina stopped him as her eyes went wide and her hand went up.

“Orcs,” she whispered.

“Are you sure?” Frederick asked, his gaze sharp on her. 

She thinned her lips and nodded, her face pale. “Pretty sure I would know.”

The prince arched a brow but inclined his head, not pressing the issue.

Renault crossed his arms and stood, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. If there were orcs nearby then there was likely going to be a fight. 

“Kenshin?” He ventured. He hadn’t heard from his Spirit since the incident with the siren.

“I am here.” 

Renault’s knees almost gave out with relief upon hearing the samurai’s voice. “Good to finally hear from you.”

“Yes. I apologize for my absence. I am unsure as to what was preventing me from contacting you. I will meditate upon it until I figure out what it was.” Kenshin appeared in front of him. 

Renault scowled as he looked up at the masked man. It wasn’t often he saw worry in the Spirit’s eyes, but he saw it now.  

“We need to figure out how many orcs there are,” Frederick said. 

Mina held her hand up and moved to the stairs. She closed her eyes and concentrated. 

Renault watched as her already paled face lost even more colour. She moved back over to them. “This is really fucking bad. They keep talking about the warband.”

The prince’s brows shot up. “A warband? Are you sure? I’ve never heard of one of those actually being formed before.”

Mina’s lips thinned. “It’s extremely rare. I’ve never heard of one actually happening, but they used to talk about them all the time and how much glory they would get from one.” 

Renault watched her closely, after what she’d disclosed to him, it couldn’t be easy for her to bring it up. She fidgeted, her fingers gripping the hem of her shirt. 

“If they’ve formed a warband, then it’ll be at minimum three hundred orcs. There’s no way we can take on that many and survive,” Mina said, her voice but a whisper. Her eyes were firmly glued to the ground at her feet. 

“We need to sneak around them.” Renault frowned and glanced at William and his heavy—loud—armour. “Will you be able to do that with that get up on?”

William glanced down and then back up at Renault and nodded. “I will be fine.”

“I’m not sure…you haven’t exactly been able to be quiet this entire time. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to walk in there wearing it. It’d be like you’re waving around a big banner that screams ‘I’m here! Look at me! Hello!’ Frederick is here, so can’t he give you leave to take it off?” Mina asked.

“I don’t know Miss Mina.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary. The amount of noise the orcs are making should mask any sound any of us make,” Frederick said with a shake of his head.

Mina frowned and narrowed her eyes but nodded. 

Renault tilted his head to the side to study William. They were hiding something about the big guy. Something they really didn’t want anyone finding out. He had his suspicions, but there was no way that it could be that. No way. They wouldn’t have done that. How would they have even pulled it off? 

“Alright fine, but if we gt caught and die, I’m haunting your ghost,” Mina said as she crossed her arms.

“Bold of you to assume I’d be a ghost and not just go to Veneah.” Frederick grinned at her.

“Ghosts do not exist, it makes no sense. I have never seen ghost,” Boris finally spoke up, shaking his his head.

Why is that what made him start talking? He’d been quiet during the entire bloody interaction. Then again, Renault hadn’t exactly said much either. There wasn’t much to say, but Boris always had something to say.

“If I become a ghost, I’m just fucking off. Not dealing with you lot. I’ll go find a hot ghost woman to seduce,” Renault said with a soft laugh. 

“What even is this conversation?” Mina shook her head, but a small smile graced her features. 

“You started it,” Frederick pointed out. “We do need to focus on getting out of here though.” He tilted his head and frowned. “It sounds like they’re leaving, at least some of them. I can hear footsteps getting further away.”

Mina scowled and moved back to the stairs and went up a few feet. She came back down, her jaw clenched. “They’re going on a raid.”

“Maybe we’re too far in the mountains for their to be people, they could just be going hunting.” Mina’s words held a hint of desperation to them. “It also gives us our best chance of getting out of here without being seen.” 

She deflated and refused to look at any of them again. How much did it hurt her to have to possibly sacrifice some villagers to the same fate she’d shared? He didn’t much like it either. 

“We can figure that out when we get out of here. There’s not much we can do about it from where we are now,” he said. Renault moved over to Mina and gave her a tight smile. His hand white-knucling the hilt of his sword. 

“The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get back to Lynden to organize battalions to take care of the warband in full.” He stared up the stair well and began to walk. 

William moved far slower than the rest, being pedantic about where he placed his feet to make as little noise as possible. It actually worked for the most part to Renault’s surprise. He could actually be stealthy when he put his mind to it. 

It didn’t take them very long at all to reach the opening into the cavern where the warband had taken up residence. 

“It looks like they’re mostly on the other side of the cavern,” Frederick whispered from his position in the front. “There are a lot of stalagmites growing. They should help mask our movement.”

Renault peered over Frederick’s shoulder, Mina stood next to the prince. There were so many of the rocky formations that they almost made a wall. A small stream cut a swath through the cavern from one side to the other. 

He moved so he was directly behind Mina to peer out over her. There was a large pen with terrified cows and goats next to where the orcs were.

Mina was trembling, with rage or fear Renault couldn’t tell. Most likely a combination of both. She did well to not just go charging out of the opening and into the midst of the orcs though. That was good at least. 

She stopped breathing for a moment and then let out a long, quiet breath as she put a foot quietly onto the even floor of the cave.