“Calm down,” Mila muttered under her breath. She made it sound like she was telling it to herself instead of a ghostly, maybe-dead-probably-not entity inside her mind.

 

No one here knew Mila well enough to realise how unusual it was for her to talk to herself. Maybe only Viola suspected there could be more to it than Mila let on.

 

And Andrew… But they were ignoring each other. The fool of a friend had chosen the end of their little procession to hang on. He couldn’t have heard her, but the little bird on his shoulder likely did.

 

Really… How had it all gone so wrong? Not that it was ever fine, but at least Mila had Isabel to fall back on… And now… It was all so tiring.

 

Those were more useless thoughts. Mila pushed them away. She needed to be sharp. Even if it was hard, even if she wanted to cry and hug Isabel, even if she wanted to scream.

 

They hurried through the tunnel the Sage had made, not bothering to make any light. It wasn’t like there was anything to trip over or possible to take a wrong turn. The darkness did nothing to hinder their path.

 

Apart from Mortimer. The thief was stumbling in the dark - too scatterbrained by the recent revelation. The fact that his father was alive had hit Mortimer fiercely.

But Mila’s own worries made her only note the fact. She didn’t have the luxury of worrying about the man. Mortimer had the newly acquired companion guaranteeing his safety.

 

Instead, Mila concentrated on sending her frustrations to the misbehaving apparition. Finally, Aaers abated. His emotions began to retreat and dry up until he was just a constant, annoying hum at the edge of Mila’s psyche.

 

Not perfect, but it had to do. Mila could finally think, only to run into grim thoughts about her girl - again. It felt like a neverending circle.

 

Perhaps thinking more about Mortimer’s father was useful. The man was someone who had managed to wrangle a whole city under his thumb… But she didn’t care about that. Isabel, on the other hand… Mila wished to split in two and leave the other half to guard her girl…

 

It went on and on until, finally, the tunnel ended. It was a dead end. Laura, who had taken the spearhead, touched the smooth stone. “What now?” She sounded unsure.

 

While the question had been aimed at Polonomia and Raran, it was Mila who answered. “It is a thin pretence of a wall. There is a noise behind it. A lot of people…”

 

“The captures,” Agata whispered. “I hear sobs, begging and lamenting. Prayers and more.”

“We have been led to where the sacrifices are.” Mila agreed. She trusted Agata’s judgement. The scout’s hearing was better than hers.

 

“So, I punch through?” Laura planted her palm on the stone surface.

 

While it was a question, Laura didn’t expect an answer. Polonomia didn’t speak now either, despite being the target of the words.

 

“Prepare yourselves for battle.” Laura gave an order, then pushed the wall.

 

The rock crumbled in front of Laura’s strength. Torchlight broke through the newly created gap and slowly revealed their target chamber.

 

Laura didn’t speed up, waiting for anyone to notice. But despite the rocks falling on the ground and announcing their arrival, no one did.

 

Soon, the opening was large enough for Laura to stick her head through. She quickly glanced around to see what they were dealing with. She then pulled back.

 

“There are cells on the left,” Laura whispered. “No guards, as far as I can tell.” She then continued to widen the hole at a faster pace. “Do we free them?”

 

With the path forward almost open, the wails of the unfortunate filled their ears. Mila could hear children among them, if barely over the men and women shouting for help and forgiveness, even when they had done nothing to deserve this fate.

 

The quieter, feebler askances of younger ones tugged at Mila’s heartstrings. Their innocence was taken away prematurely, first by war, now by becoming sacrifices. She knew that even if they succeeded in freeing them, these children would be forever scarred by these experiences.

 

“I’ll check their condition. Don’t make too much noise. We don’t want them to notice us and alert the guards.” Mila warned her companions before looking at Viola, who gave the go sign.

 

Seeing her friend hadn’t detected anything too suspicious, Mila slipped out of the tunnel. 

 

The chamber was clean, tidy and well-ventilated. But the air itself didn’t smell good. As Mila neared the cells, the stench of human waste and more entered her nose. She took care to keep herself hidden.

 

Mila peeked around the corner - just to duck back behind the next moment. There were guards, and they were looking towards her.

 

But they didn’t see her. Mila peeked around the corner again. The guards were absentmindedly exchanging words while looking at nothing in particular. They looked worried and pensive, each of the four men taken by their own thoughts.

 

They ignored the desperate whispers, crying and begging so close to them. But Mila could tell they did have an impact. None of the guards lashed out or abused the captures. They averted their eyes and pretended to not see.

 

Which to Mila was worse. They could help but didn’t. She wasn’t a saint either, but these were not hostages. Maybe the guards didn’t know, maybe they did. She wouldn’t try to find out.

 

Then Mila turned her eyes towards the planned sacrifices. She noticed the grim culling device hanging above their heads.

 

A large press with a mechanism to lower it on top of the poor people's heads, squashing them and turning them into a soup of blood and gore. There were runes, too - carved in the walls and on the ground. Squigly, angular and more. She struggled to understand them but got the gist of their purpose.

 

Together with the drains on the ground, Mila knew they were another portion of fuel for the ritual. This was one of the holding locations strategically placed throughout the underground complex.

 

Just how many more were there? Mila counted several tens in this location alone. She turned around to ask Agata for help to dispose of the guards from a distance. There was no need to show themselves to the captures. It would only agitate them.

 

Or so Mila judged. Of course, not everyone agreed. Andrew was being held down by Laura as he attempted to rush towards the suffering people. The wolf let out a low, threatening growl towards the woman but didn’t attack, understanding they were outmatched. And Helly quietly laughed at the spectacle.

 

Once Mila had shortened the distance between them, she hissed. “Think for once before you act. We can’t take them with us. We get rid of the guards, then let them free themselves. Without overseers, they’ll get out soon enough. We can’t be bogged down here. Not now.”

 

“I didn’t know…” Andrew whispered but did stop the struggle. “This isn’t a place for anyone to be… This world is…”

“It is up to us to correct it.” Laura helped Andrew up. “And we will. That is why we are here.”

 

While Laura was doing the pep talk, Mila studied Andrew’s face. He looked haggard. His eyes carried a grim determination. And they hardened. “Don’t do anything stupid, Andrew. You already have done plenty.” She warned. “Agata, come. We will kill them and move on. Viola, you and your…” Mila looked at the Messanger, who was keeping a healthy distance from Polonomia. “...Superior, please see what is behind those gates.”

 

Their task was quick. While Mila lacked any of the equipment she had on her at the start of the mess, she had managed to scavenge some throwing weapons. A couple arrows and a couple throwing knives took the guards' lives silently. Another arrow weakened the locks, holding the cells closed. The prisoners would manage further.

The captures didn’t notice the demise of their overseers for a while longer. And by the time they did, Mila and Agata were back at their group, pushing the gates to the next room open.

 

As expected, besides the few timid calls for their savours, the people they were leaving behind didn’t raise noise.

 

Once the gates were open, Mila moved into the corridor, stretching to both sides with a slight bend obstructing the view. There were torches here as well. She took one side while Agata took the other and moved to see what they could find.

 

Deeper in the tunnels, Mila could hear people gathering. She guessed they were fortifying their positions to hold back the army once they got through the gates.

 

It was likely the reason these corridors were empty. Everyone who could be of use was forced to take positions for the upcoming battle. The guards left to guard the sacrifices just reinforced the guess.

 

Still, there should be a patrol or two. Mila didn’t relax even for a moment. However, it was also a large part because her mind was too stressed.

 

The pressing feeling of the rich ambient mana also didn’t help. Everything seemed to be so bleak. Mila straightened. She was again slipping into despair. “At least help me now.” She muttered.

 

The old apparition gave the feeling of shrugging, and then Mila felt a tug pointing her towards her right. “Now you talk? Done crying already?” Her words tried to hurt the ancient warlord.

 

Of course, they had no effect. Mila felt only an affirmation that Aaers was better. She clicked her tongue, then almost repeated the action.

 

Instead, Mila sighed. She really didn’t want to pick up Isito’s habit of doing that. Her scattered thoughts focused once she found piping stretching down from above.

 

The tunnel widened, and the pipes above her head on the ceiling grew in number and thickness.

 

And soon, Mila heard voices ahead of her. She stopped, then looked back. There had been several turns she had taken to get here, but it wasn’t far from where her group had been left waiting.

 

It was time to head back. Mila took a step, then palled.

 

A loud, pain and anger-filled roar filled the tunnels. Then another howl joined the first. Several others, just as malicious and terrible, made a choir that made her body shake from the instinctive fear.

 

So, the nobles didn’t just rely on their private forces and city guards to hold back the military. They had more abominations hidden down here as the last resort.

 

Mila had to get back. These roars likely meant the Sage had finally stopped holding back the Miliary’s forces. There would be a fight. They had to do as much damage before it started and during it - then vanish from these caves. They couldn’t be caught.

 

No matter who won, Mila knew it would be her group that would join the deceased.

 

More roars echoed through the corridors. Mila felt Aaers anger.

 

In fact, there was so much rage in the old ghost that he offered something unexpected to Mila - direct guidance for which he would pay the price.