It appeared to be just another dark tunnel. Perhaps the air was fresher. It was hard to tell. At least the smell of blood was gone. Apart from the one that clung to her body. And Mila’s shoes were full of the stuff. She needed to catch those assholes and put an end to them. The ritual had to be stopped.

 

Mila repeated the mistake of looking at Isabel’s limp body in Verte’s hands. For a moment, her mind was thrown into complete disarray. Her heart pumped cold blood through her veins, and her mind imagined finding Oscar and torturing him.

 

That was not her. Mila had to repeat again and again. That was foolish and cruel… And it threw out everything she was striving for. But oh… She so wanted to…

 

It was a struggle - to turn her mind to something productive. Only Mila’s mind turned towards the Messanger, and…

 

The fucker KNEW the way down. Mila was now sure of it! It was almost as if he was trying his best to have the Nobles and the Military duke it out until nothing was left but them.

 

And Mila could bet that was exactly what a slimy infiltrator would do! The Messanger was playing a dangerous game. He wanted to survive but also cripple Tordgo’s forces. He could not be trusted. The Messanger had promised to help if the situation got dire. Isabel was important enough…

 

No. Mila forced herself to stop thinking about it so negatively. Messenger wasn’t trying to kill them. He had ulterior motives, but his country was at war with Tordgo. She couldn’t blame him for making the best of a shitty situation. She would do the same. And Isabel was- Was going to be fine.

 

Besides, there was still the fourth party in the mess. What about the Sage group? The Messanger was trying to make use of them as well.

 

It all was too complicated. Everyone had their own goals. Even the biggest asshole of them all. Andrew should have been here to help…

 

Mila forced herself again from going down a dark spiral. Andrew was only partly at fault here. She couldn’t put all the blame on him. Her eyes found Isabel again. Ugum was still pouring mana into her girl, knitting together the long gash. The bleeding had stopped, but there were no signs of Isabel waking up - just as the doctor had predicted.

 

“Mila?” Viola was the first one to speak after they had entered the tunnel.

 

“Yes?”

“Please calm down.” Viola pleaded more than asked. There was an edge to her voice that had a desperation to it.

 

“I am calm,” Mila spoke before shaking her head. Viola was a friend. There was no need to lie so blatantly. “Calmer. I am calmer.” She corrected.

 

“Right. Sure you are. Just don’t stab any of us.”

 

“Of course, I wouldn’t do that.” Mila was almost offended. But noticing Viola’s prolonged look, she continued. “I am just angry at a whole myriad of things. Not any of you in particular.” She sent a cold glance to the Messanger, letting him know she was growing tired of his bullshitery.

 

In the end, there was nothing Mila could do now without exposing everyone to grave danger. She couldn’t do that. Besides, there were enemies ahead. People who did not deserve to live.

 

The muffled creature's roars behind them grew distant and weak. Raran had managed to collapse a chunk of the tunnel’s ceiling, but that was unlikely to obstruct the pursuing party for long.

 

They were moving fast, but it could be faster. Mila glanced at Mortimer, who was being dragged along by Agata. The thief was barely holding on to his dear life despite not spending any strength in the previous encounters.

 

For a blessed moment, Mila’s mind wandered back to the two kids they had committed to bring out of the city. She wondered if Naran was making any progress in digging the way out of Stilag. Even if they stopped the ritual, they still had to find a way to escape. She doubted getting through the gates would work. 

 

The city would likely be locked down. Enough time had passed for more reinforcements to arrive and begin to siege Stilag.

 

All of this was for the latter. Mila refocused again and again. Every time, she funnelled her mind into thinking about different matters. Everything just to not have a nerve breakdown from the worry about her love’s current state. It really had struck her hard.

 

“Scents ahead.” Viola suddenly warned after they had run for another minute.

 

The party slowed down, with Mila taking the spearhead to sound out the situation. Agata was sticking closer to her, checking for any possible traps. There had been none so far, but you could never know.

 

Voices reached Mila. Several people were shouting, but the words were too distorted by the echo and distance to understand.

 

They barely slowed as they approached the voices. Viola sniffed the air. “The overseers are not there.” She informed. “But it stinks like those handlers and few others.”

 

Mila nodded. As they ran, she caught the first signature, then a couple others. Nothing dangerous. Her steps quickened. A moment later, she burst into an open room - caution forgotten. She wanted to hurt someone - anyone. She wanted to let out the bubbling hatred and helplessness.

 

The bunch of surprised people in front of her would do. Mila didn’t stop and forcefully launched herself at the biggest gathering of people. The two handlers were there, and three more mana signatures also.

 

All of them were valid targets for Mila’s anger. She ignored the common rabble and killed the first handler. He had been explaining what had happened to their precious project. A scum of the highest order, he deserved worse than what Mila offered by gutting him.

 

Alarmed shouts surrounded Mila as she killed the next person - a fancy-dressed merchant from the looks. He wasn’t much of a fighter - an easy kill. Then the next.

 

Mila forced her body to move again and again. Her dagger broke, so she took a sword from one of her victims. They died, but not fast enough.

 

Spinning around, Mila sliced away another life. These people were not her opponents. Too weak. No challenge. Not enough to distract her from her chaotic thoughts.

 

Mila spun again and again, taking life after life, until…

“Stop.” Viola grabbed Mila just as the petite girl was about to chop down one of the last remaining guards who breathed. “They are dead.”

 

“Let me go.” Mila tried to free herself. But to her surprise, she failed. Mila tried again, finding her breath too laboured and limbs too heavy. And it hurt.

“She overtaxed herself.” Ugum’s voice came from behind. “Let me.”

Mila felt the healer’s hand press against her forehead. She heard him criticise her choice of actions.

 

Only now did Mila realise what she had done. Her eyes travelled from one corpse to the next. Besides her group, there was nothing but death left in this room. She had killed them all.

 

It had not helped. Mila felt like shit. “Oh, no…” She felt the warm, soothing feeling extend through her muscles. “Stop. Isabel needs it more.” She tried to push Ugum away.

 

“No, she doesn’t. Isabel is stable, and you can still fight. I just need to patch you up.”

 

It was such a stupid mistake. How could Mila ignore her condition until it was this bad? Tears welled in her eyes. She was taking away the healing time from Isabel. Laura and her group could have taken care of this fodder. There had been no need for her to act so recklessly.

 

Viola wrapped her hands around Mila’s shoulders. “We will need a moment.” She announced before pulling the smaller girl closer. “You can cry.”

 

A couple of tears rolled down Mila’s cheeks. “Latter.” She felt so spent. All strength was suddenly gone from her body. “This is no time.”

“Sure it isn’t. But you should.” Viola patted Mila’s head. “Right, Ugum?”

 

The healer coughed in his free hand when Mila glared at him. “I wouldn’t know. It is not my speciality.”

“Let the girl cry if she needs.” Virr was the one who unexpectedly inserted himself into the conversation. “We can hold that crazy bitch back for a while, right, Sir?” He asked Laura.

 

“We can.” The mercenary group’s leader cautiously replied. It was clear she would rather not.

 

“No, we must move.” Mila finally felt well enough to stand. She dropped the newly acquired sword next to its deceased owner. It didn’t suit her, being too heavy and long.

 

While Mila searched for a new weapon among the corpses, Raran collapsed the entrance behind them.

“It’s barely working.” The mage offhandedly mentioned the trouble. “My mana barely moves the stone. And it’s getting harder.”

After kicking over the posh merchant’s corpse, Mila finally found a suitable weapon. A dagger, of course. She picked it up and felt the weight. It was a good weapon, but not as good as the one she had gotten from Silinth so long ago. She wondered if the training grounds still stood.

 

It better did. Mila wanted to return to that place one day with Isabel. She looked at her girl, and after cleaning her hands from blood, she gently caressed her love’s cheeks. “You sure sleep well…”

 

“Which path next?” Verte asked the Messanger while Mila recharged her emotional batteries.

“There.” The Messanger pointed at one of the exits from the room.

 

Mila felt sane enough to speak. “What can we expect down that path?” She looked at the doors that stood ajar. 

 

At least those were not the huge ones from where the creature had been dragged in. A foul stench wafted from the large entrance, and if Mila listened, there seemed to be screams coming from there.

 

No. There were screams, and they were getting closer.

 

“Incoming.” Agata realised it, too.

 

“It’s doubtful they had just one specimen,” Mila mentioned. They had spent hears down here. She didn’t dare to predict what else they could encounter. “These are good news. The Inquisitor will not follow us without getting rid of the abomination.”

 

While Mila made it sound like a positive, she could not help but think of how tough the last line of defence was going to be.

“This is the last stretch.” The Messanger headed for the chosen exit. “We are almost there.”

 

Mila looked at Isabel. Verte was picking her up again while Ugum had returned to healing her.

 

Then, Mila looked at the devastation she had created. This had been mostly pointless and had made her tired. She took a breath and began to walk. She had to be smarter than this.

 

“You should have cried a little.” Viola walked beside Mila as they entered the tunnel. “It helps. I do that sometimes when I am alone with Litro.”

 

That surprised Mila. Nothing in the interactions between Viola and Litro indicated such intimacy.

“Don’t believe me? I don’t have many friends.” Viola continued. “He is one of the rare people who can stand me for a prolonged time.”

 

“It is not a good thing, I would say.” Mila was thankful to Viola. These details helped to keep Mila’s mind in order.

 

“It’s not.” Viola nodded. “But I can’t help it. It's just how I am.”

“Right…” Mila chose not to comment. She brushed against Isabel and planted a small kiss on her girl’s hand.

 

Then Mila moved to the front. The group increased the pace. If the Messanger was right, they would soon be at the heart of the tunnel system.

 

More enemies waited ahead. Mila exchanged pokes with the ghost inside her. The presence of the old being was somewhat reassuring.

 

But it would not be enough. Mila gripped her new dagger. She had to be strong.