“Look at me! Dosie, Look at me! You’re safe! There's no one here, just us! Just us! Just us…"

Leon’s soothing voice filled the room. Hidden in his enormous arms, the ferru woman seemed no bigger than a child. She nuzzled against him, her ears flat against her head, her body shaking.

"She spent five days hiding in a wooden crate, outside the city walls, in the middle of a horde. I saw men broken by a lesser thing."

“We’ll that do takes iron balls to make it through.”

The Brothers chattered while browsing through the abandoned supplies. Carl Squeezed back into the crack where light did not reach and took the first watch.

“I think you may be interested in this, ne'fanna.”

*He is talking to you.*

I turned my head at the voice and stared without a hint of understanding.

*Ne'Fanna, eastern for the venerable witch. I have not heard that in a long while. Quite far from home they are.*

"Here."

Darin pointed at a content of a crate.

“It's for light cavalry and most of the items may not fit but I think the boots are worth a try. Good thick leather.”

His eyes travelled down. Red, chipped nails peeked from under the dirt and grime. My poor toes.

“Thank you.”

I gave him a slight nod and bend over the chest.

*Perhaps you should be more careful where you aim that bum of yours.*

Why?

Looking over my shoulder, I saw them focused on... me. Suddenly, everyone found something worth doing as long as it allowed them to avoid my eyes.

*Dolt, lower. Look, lower.*

Oh. I no longer flashed my pink side but all that walking rolled up the fabric into a marvelous whale fin. Well, even from this angle, the view was worthy of a magazine cover.

Let them stare if they want. We neither have time nor leisure to play the prudent game and frankly, I don’t care. As long as they won’t try anything…

My hand trembled. This body still felt the touch of that wind. So unclean, so... annoying.

*Forgive me. It was my fault…*

Erta, stop. Your feelings are not helping.

Neither could i understand what i felt if a feeling it was. More like an itch in the back i could not scratch.

The neatly folded stacks of leather pants, grabbed my attention. With some luck, perhaps one of those would fit. I picked few possible candidates, unfortunately, my rump did not fit any. Having more luck with a cotton gambeson I buckled it around my torso and tightened it as much as possible. It fit. Kind of. It looked like a padded minidress that somewhat covered my butt. Almost.

The gambeson sleeves were wide enough for me to fit long leather gloves underneath. I can't recall any kind of military formation that would use opera length gloves but they were thick enough to stop a tooth or two so I gladly welcomed that addition.

As for the boots, I did find a pair in a reasonable size. Black, polished till I could see my own reflection in it, long boots that reached up to my hip. The impressive quarter inch thick leather while not very flexible, should provide adequate protection against, well, teeth and nails although the three inch long heels were not something I would imagine on military boots. Maybe they have some sort of advantage while using stirrups? Thankfully this body knew how to walk in those. Whatever kept me balanced, suddenly chugged more mana. No socks though. I had to make do with some linen footwraps.

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By the time I finished getting dressed, Leon managed to coax a bit of spiced wine down Dosie’s throat and she fell asleep on a bundle of discarded capes. Others in the meantime filled the gap in the gate with pieces found in the chamber. They separated useful items like food and water from stuff we won’t need, like spare armors, more boots more weapons. Whatever ended up on the “junk” pile, the brothers shoved into the gap.

Clicking softly on my newly acquired heels, once again I went around the chamber.

So, this is the exit.

*Was. I may not sense them but I still can detect the vibration they generate. Whatever is beyond that gate, even with my magic we may not make it.*

I let my palm rest against the stone. If my estimates were worth anything, that gate weighted nothing less than several hundred tons and yet, something made it rumble like a kitten.

*And then, there is the barrier. Now that we are this close to it… It will not fail within next few days nor weeks. Perhaps not even months. *

The dry blood on the floor had an ominous velvet tint to it whenever I looked at it through my third eyelid.

“Care to share your thoughts?”

Leon stopped beside me.

“Is there a chance someone from the outside may come looking for you?”

“None.”

He replayed without as much as a blink.

“Then this is not the way.”

I gave a slight nod at the gate and moved towards the other one. Exactly identical, sans the blood and markings left by whoever explored this ruin, the gate appeared unused. Dust and cobwebs of ancient times gathered around it.

“Come forth.”

I called upon the spirit yet even though I used its name sending mana through it, the spirit did not answer. Did she ignore my plea?

*No. Such summons cannot be ignored. The barrier may not be letting her in.*

If that’s the case, any idea where that gate goes?

*Downward towards the city. Straight for about fifty feet. The tomb’s magic generates too much interference to scan any further.*

“The spirit won’t answer?”

Leon followed me. Whatever he knew about magic, the lack of reaction unsettled him.

“It can’t. Not through that barrier.”

He chewed on that for a while then approached the gate and scraped the dust from several places where the markings could be hidden. He found none.

“Unopened. They haven’t mapped this one.”

“Which means?”

The brothers joined us.

“We don’t know what’s out there and if it's still locked on the other end or ends if it branches out, it may be safe."

“Worth a try. This or we go back to that staircase.”

Apparently, none of them even considered waiting.

“Forget about the staircase. There’s a horde stuck there in some rubble. Matter of time before it overflows.”

Carl stood by, resting his weight on a spear.

“When did you…”

“When you were busy staring at her ass and playing with your dick instead of using your head.”

He gave me a judging look then let out a murmur of approval.

“You know how to use this?”

Suddenly he tossed me the spear he’d been holding. It bounced off my chest but I grab a hold of it before it hit the floor.

“Pointy end goes into the foe.”

I summed up my experience.

“Fair enough. Leon, go wake up your maiden. We’d use her blade and her ears.”