The Ghost Owls now had a well-practiced routine for mission preparation and execution. Sverina made sure her sister Freriya, Azure, Bapsta, and Ivanik all had their gear ready for a mission that might have been strange, but after rescuing the mysterious new medic, they were used to underground missions.
Some of the squad and even the specialists had wondered why Commander Dame Albrecht had picked such a treacherous route as the one through The Maw, but all the recon reports had shown that the Broken were reluctant to enter the expansive caves.
That would have been a welcome reprieve except that the team knew that the reason why was because there was a huge tribe of strange people that lived in The Maw known as the Pale Ones. And if the Broken were afraid of a group of people, then the Legion should certainly be prepared for them. Not only that, but now they had an even greater contingent of civilian refugees to protect on the narrow, long, and winding pathways. It was most terrifying when they all came to the first pit that made up many of the vast caverns in this network. Someone tried dropping a lantern down to see how deep they were, but all that they all found was that it was too deep for any of them to be concerned with survival.
Fortunately, the Ghost Owls had not been given the crap assignment of shepherding all the civilians and the caravan of siege weapons, wounded, and supplies.
Elaina had again been tapped to lead the Ghost Owls. It felt like all the times they’d had together had come full circle. Their first mission together had been so long ago right after Ettenmark Fields and here they were at the base of the paths that led to SkyDagger Keep, the place they thought they’d never make it to.
This mission though was made difficult by the presence of the Legion’s alchemists. They held up the normal speed of the well trained group and carried loud and heavy gear that often needed a little tweaking.
“Why are these assholes here?” Azure muttered as they again let something fall from their packs and clatter on the ground.
“They know things you’ll never learn. Not unless you hang up that spear and cleaver.” Elaina said coldly and cryptically as she leaned in towards the squad, irritated by their irritation.
The muttering kept up but more quietly. They were all on edge with how quiet and dark the journey was. There were bugs, but no wild life and no enemies. They traveled through the tunnels and caves until they finally reached what looked like a carved doorway. The doors were long since gone, but this cavern looked untouched due to how far off the main paths it was.
Everyone worked their way inside of the chamber as Emerald immediately went to climb up and hop onto the tallest platform that she could easily reach.
“What do you see from up there?” Freriya asks genuinely curious as she walks her way around the descending slabs of carved stone that come to a low point in the center of the room.
Emerald points excitedly at each of the large headstones around the room. “Definitely a ritual henge. I’ve seen a pattern like this a few times before, though also its different. There are some large runic writings that are hard to make out from down there. From here, they look complete but also nothing that any of us will be able to read.”
The elder alchemist, Farrow, starts to rub his wizened hands over some of the floor carvings. “Hah, challenge accepted. There is a reason why you brought us. If you could only spend the time we have with your noses buried in ancient texts.”
“Well, get to it.” Elaina sighs as she listens to more of Farrow’s yammering about esoteric complexities that are obviously just there to make him sound smart.
“I think first that lunch is in order. My legs need a break before I work on this.” He sits down and opens up a wax wrap with a fine hunk of cheese and bread as he starts cutting them to take measured bites.
“What the hell are you doing? We don’t have time for a picnic.” Colay sighs as he watches the alchemists relax like this is the local park.
Elaina shoots an annoyed look at Colay. “Set up guards in the antechamber. We’ll give them the time that they need,” obviously annoyed by the constant eccentricities.
Not but a few minutes into their rather funny impromptu meal, one of the sentries, Bapsta, stepped into the room. “We’ve got company.”
“What kind?” Elaina asked.
“The scary kind. Lots. More than I can count or make sense of.”
Elaina stepped up and kicked the last half loaf of bread and oil aside. “Lunch break is over. Back to work. We don’t have a lot of time to waste. Emerald, do what you can to help them?” She stormed out into the hall as Emerald and the two alchemists got to work interpreting the meaning of the room and how to perform the proper ritual for opening the chamber that should be nearby.
Elaina adjusted her mechanical eye, but it barely seemed to help as everywhere she looked were signs of the supernatural. The squad stood in defensive stance, stacked up with each other and preparing to cover their buddies.
She could see more even as Sverina, Freriya, and Bapsta all started to point out the Pale Ones all around, looking as alien as they’d expected. The creatures hung from spots on the ceiling, dug into the walls with their fingernail like claws, walking along it as if it was the floor. Still more spread out about the floor and stacked up in such impressive numbers that in some places they could not be counted separately.
“We’re not here to hurt you or to fight you. We came for something and once we have it, we’ll be gone.” Elaina called out as it echoed back and forth through the caverns and the chittering of these Pale Ones filled the room like a busy summer insect hive.
One of the creatures, quite large compared to the others, hisses and stands forward. All the rest are hunched over and holding on to the walls and floors with both arms and legs. This one motions with its gangly arms around at Elaina and her friends. It starts to speak in a tongue that sounds like nothing that is expressed in Aldermark.
Elaina uses her own arms to try to make gestures to show that they are no threat. “We will leave very soon. Back, step back. Here...” She goes back into the main room and finds a hunk of meat included in the large lunch spread about. She takes the hock of meat and goes out and tosses it out to the supposed leader. “Have yourself a nice snack.”
Several of the more feral looking ones around the speaker quickly jump onto the meat and start to rend it apart and eat it. The speaker tries to speak what he hears. “You... sacred place, you leave. You not here. You go. You send away your legs. Now.”
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“Yes, just a few minutes. A few, tock tock tock.” Elaina says as Freriya tries to help with further gestures. Elaina looks to her and they can both tell that this rouse will not hold them for long.
The speaker steps forward and beats his chest aggressively. He hops up and down and looks like he is about to charge as Bapsta discharges his rifle and the creature slides back along the ground, a bloody mess of flesh.
Elaina looks over and Colay and Bapsta both shrugs. “They’re sneaking up on us.” Bapsta points up at the ceiling where they are skulking close.
“Alright Squad, lets get them! Then them down and make them run!” Elaina commands as Colay cheers and waves his big hammer around before charging forward.
Sverina didn’t follow too far behind Colay, her recklessness almost as legendary as Colay’s as the two boldly worked into the crowd of Pale Ones. They were badly outnumbered and as they made it out of the tunnel and into the main ante-chamber, they quickly became surrounded.
Azure saw this and acted faster than the others as she pulled out a new grenade that she had fashioned. She charged forward and lit the grenade. She under hand tosses it to gently get the grenade to land in the crowd behind her friends and watched as it horrifically bounced right under her friends legs.
“Watch out!” Azure shouted but couldn’t be heard as she was glad she had put on her heavy armor as she dove for the grenade. This was definitely not how she’d hoped that this moment was going to go, her first use of these new grenades she’d crafted. She managed to lead with her shield as it pushed down and the grenade exploded and the blast forced her off the ground and into the air, landing on her back, stunned and further surrounded.
Meanwhile, in the ritual chamber, Emerald could hear the combat beginning and the many snarls of the multitude of enemies. The two alchemists both still tried to figure out how the circle worked as Emerald went with her instincts. She started to dance around the outskirts of the decorated stones in a traditional Panyar fashion. It was obvious to her how the circle was fueled as she grabbed Farrow’s hand and started to spin around.
“There is no time for this you tribal dunce!” Farrow complained as he spun around with her.
She put a soft but wrinkled finger up to his lips. “Shh.” She softly muttered out of her lips. She led him in a dance she had not performed in ages, not since she left her homeland.
She approached the notched grove near the outer elevated circle and smiled as he huffed and guffed and started to get into the moves. The other alchemist looked on curiously as she slowly slid a ritual dagger out and moved it slowly along her palm, teasing the skin.
Farrow looked at the knife nervously and she smiled as she turned and lightly rubbed it along his chin, shaving some of his hairs off nimbly. He let out a breath as he felt the knife move away from him as the dance intensity increased.
The next spin sent the knife along her neck and rubbed into her skin and then around to Farrow. Farrow danced in a circle around as prescribed and then stopped before her as she suddenly stopped. Emerald then moved the knife up to his throat and he sucked in his breath again.
This time, she didn’t just graze his skin and cut his hair. She moved the knife swiftly and deeply as she gorged his neck open, quickly turning his body now lifeless so that his neck started to spew blood down into the channel. It quickly filled as the other alchemist shrieked and she leaned down to take some of the excess blood and spread it across her face.
The alchemist screams as he watches Farrow’s eyes slowly fade to lifeless orbs, and then he turns and runs out the tunnel. He is quickly greeted by Freriya and Elaina both firing shots to try to hold off the horde of monsters. “She’s gone mad!” He screams as he points back towards the chamber.
Elaina scratches her chin with her reloader and looks back. “What the hells are you talking about?”
“She just sacrificed Farrow.” He cries as he falls against the wall.
Elaina doesn’t have time for this but the ritual must succeed. “Go help her do what she needs to do. Freriya, take Ivanik and go see what the hell you can do to help.”
Freriya looks out at Sverina, battling and in dire trouble but nods and works her way back towards the chamber, pushing along the alchemist, “Come on, lets go.”
Ivanik reloads and follows swiftly behind, hoping Colay and the others will rescue Azure.
Emerald keeps working the ritual in traditional deep Panyar fashion as she happens to glance up. It now appears that the walls themselves are crawling and moving. Or perhaps its her own twisted visions? She hears a scream behind her as one of the Pale Ones drops down from the wall and tackles the last alchemist. The first and last field mission ends then for both of the alchemists of the Legion as he collapses, perhaps not dead, but definitely out of action as Ivanik puts his pistol the the Pale One’s head and pulls the trigger.
“Hurry! We’re getting overwhelmed.” Freriya calls over to Emerald as she starts shooting Pale Ones still on the walls, stuck crawling and easy targets.
Emerald redoubles her efforts as she sees more Pale Ones drop down to the floor and slowly approach her.
Sverina can’t see her sister anymore but knows that Azure is in trouble as she hacks her way over to her long time comrade. Some of the pale ones around her start to bite chunks out of her arm and shoulder and claws rend at her armor and flesh as she bashes the final Pale One away from Azure and steps over her. Colay equally s rushes forward and turns to provide a wall of solid defense as the Pale Ones start to pile up around him and over him, dropping down onto him.
Azure steps up, brushing off and feeling for her last grenade. “This one should do the trick.”
Sverina looks over. “Are you sure that’s wise?”
“It’s the only chance we’ve got.” Azure nods as she lights the fuse.
“Whatever you are doing, it better be good.” Colay yells as he tries to fight the things back as Bapsta and Elaina now pull out pistols and fire at close quarters.
The whole squad is overwhelmed as Azure looks to Elaina. “You’ll know the perfect moment.” She tosses the grenade in a high arc into the room.
Elaina trains her mechanical eye on it as she reacts and pulls the trigger. The explosion is swift and massive, packing an extra punch with the flammable black shot from Elaina’s rifle. The explosion lights the air on fire and the mass of Pale One’s is the shield.
The air left all their lungs for a brief moment, but when Sverina’s breath returned, she looked at Elaina. “Where’s Freriya?” She panted, covered in blood and bites.
“To help with the ritual.” Elaina put her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
Sverina gritted her teeth and charged down the tunnel, Bapsta quickly making an about face, not taking time to reload and pulling out a short sword.
They ran into the room and Bapsta called back down the hall. “There’s more of them!”
Freriya and Ivanik were surrounded, doing all they could to hold off the horde dropping into the room.
Emerald felt the floor budge as the center began to open as her ancient Panyar chant echoed and the blood pooled around the ring in the center.
She hopped down as soon as the hole was big enough for her to fit and started to crawl down the tunnel, too small to do anything else.
One Pale One dropped onto Freriya’s back and she struggled to reach for it as it bit her neck and started to rip. She could see her vision getting hazy as it ripped at her flesh.
At the last moment that the thing would tear out her throat, Sverina’s axe slid by her side, chopping the nasty beast in half.
The sisters made eye contact with each other and went back to back as they continued to fight. With the rest of the squad running into to reinforce them, they held back the onslaught. The bodies started to pile so high they could use them for cover like a wall of flesh.
Emerald got to the end of the tunnel and found a glowing runic stone. She was unable to decipher any of its meaning, but she took out and started to push it out. It was very heavy for her so she called out for help as she slid it along the ground. Colay heard the call and dropped down, seeing the glow as he fashioned a harness with Bapsta’s help and lassoed the big stone. They pulled with all their might and as the squad caved in around the opening, the light started to penetrate the room of the chamber. As that eerie green glowed, the Pale Ones screeched in horror and immediately, the skittering remains of the horde started to ascend and retreat.
They all breathed a heavy sigh as they tended to the wounds and Emerald did her best to save the other alchemist, knowing he’d be permanently scarred by what happened here.