Eliza stood in front of a long rectangular building constructed next to the open gate. A small staircase led up to an elevated wooden platform and the door that led into the building. The door opened up, and Kolgit came outside.

Kolgit's eyes met Eliza's, and he gave her a good-natured grin before speaking to the group, "Wait fer a moment. The captain'll be here soon. He's talking with sparky boy."

"What is this? We're supposed to fight with a group of children? Why don't you just save the Demons' a meal and kill us here and now?" A voice said from behind her.

Eliza turned along with the rest of the group to see who it was. Three people approached, the foremost being the one who had spoken, a tall, heavily muscular Orc. He was bald with tusks coming out of his mouth and had a Tattoo of a black dragon curling up his left arm.

Behind him followed a human female who was about the same height as Leah. Her gaze was cold as she looked over Eliza and the others. She had blonde hair that was tied back in a tight ponytail.

Behind the lady was Caldren, and Eliza cursed her luck. She glared at Caldren, who met her gaze with a sneer. Out of everyone in the camp, she had to fight with a man actively trying to get her killed.

"If anything, you'll be the reason you die, Lycus; you can be quite careless," Demitrus casually responded.

Lycus glared menacingly down at Demitrus, "Shut it; You're the reason I was caught in the first place, So don't you dare say that I'm careless,"

"Oh, that wasn't a mistake; it was very intentional," Demitrus said, sneering.

Lycus began to clench one of his fists and looked as if he could start swinging at any moment, "you'll suffer for that if it's the last thing I do." He snarled.

"Get in line," Demitrus said with a smile.

Lycus clenched his fists and took a deep breath before turning his head to look at Eliza.

"Will you ever shut up? How about you take your bullcrap elsewhere so that none of us have to deal with it." Eliza said, annoyed by the pitiful man.

"Are you that girl from the Empire he's told me all about? Eliza, was it?" Lycus said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Eliza looked over at Caldren, "What? You couldn't beat me, so you send any random lowlife you can convince to come after me? Do you really want to be a citizen of the Empire that much?" She asked.

Caldren's face reddened, and he went to retort, but Lycus beat him to it.

"I'm not just some random lowlife; I'm the ganglord of the slums in the capital city, Kaldia." Lycus Snarled.

"Prior," Demitrus emphasized, and Eliza saw a vein bulge on the Orc's forehead.

"So? Am I supposed to be intimidated?" Eliza asked, looking up at the Orc.

Eliza heard Demitrus chuckle behind her.

Lycus sneered, "It's too bad; he made it seem like you would be a worthy challenge to fight. But all I see is a little girl."

Eliza sighed, "Really? Seem's like Caldren can speak the truth sometimes. I'll take you on any time."

Lycus cracked his knuckles and sneered, "Then, How about we settle this right now? Don't forget what you just said and back out on me now."

Eliza matched his sneer, "Naturally,"

A small sinister smirk surfaced on Cladren's face.

Suddenly a swishing sound interrupted them, and they both jumped back as an axe embedded itself deeply into the dirt between them.

"Don't ferget I have me axe." Kolgit said as he walked down the stairs and yanked his axe from the ground.

"Hey! Don't butt in, shorty!" Caldren called out from the ground holding a bloody nose. When Lycus had jumped back, His arm had swung backward and collided with Caldren's face.

Kolgit ignored him and looked between Eliza and Lycus. He had a glare in his eyes, and his beard trembled from anger. "How idiotic do ya need ta be ta be doing this now? We leave in twenty minutes, and yer fighting? Why don't we tie ya up an throw ya to the demons? It'll accomplish da same thing."

The angry Dwarf looked between the two of them. Daring them to try anything.

Tension was palpable in the air between the three parties, and Eliza refused to back down. That was unacceptable. Her eyes met Lycus's, and she got the feeling he was of the same mind.

The standoff continued until someone came up behind Eliza and grabbed her by the shoulders, easily lifting her. Eliza tried to resist, but the person easily carried her away.

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"Let me go right now!" Eliza yelled out to whoever had grabbed her. She struggled against his grip but couldn't break it no matter what she did.

"She won't do anything, and we won't either, sir Guard." Leo's voice said from behind her. Eventually, Eliza stopped struggling as Leo carried her away from the confrontation.

"Good, at least one of ya have sense." Kolgit said before looking at Lycus," How about ya, you wanna taste me axe?"

Eliza didn't hear the rest of what happened because as soon as she was put down, she turned around. Leo was standing there with his arms folded, His stance radiating disapproval.

Demitrus stood off to the side, watching the engagement with an amused smile.

"You challenged an Orc more than twice your height to fight with your hands. Are you insane?" Leo said calmly, but Eliza could detect an edge in his voice.

"I could've figured it out," Eliza responded in kind with anger in her eyes.

"Really?" Leo asked, "And how would you have done that?"

"Simple, I would have-" She started before realizing that it probably wouldn't have worked. "I could have-." she started again, but no ideas came to her mind. "If I had a weapon, he would be a cakewalk…." She muttered.

"And do you have a weapon? No, no, you don't. And you still accepted a fight? How stupid is that?" Leo sighed dramatically and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why couldn't you have just backed down to deal with it later?"

"Because that would be running." Eliza snapped back and looked away. She said in a much quieter voice, one that she could barely hear, "and I can't let myself run anymore.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say," Leo said as he turned around.

An uncomfortable silence broke out.

It was then that the door to the building opened, and out came the reddish-brown-haired magician, Octavius, and the Kobold Captain that had been in charge of the caravan that brought Eliza here.

"This is everyone?" he said in a clear voice.

"Ay Captain, everybody is ready ta get armed and ta get fightin," Kolgit said before saluting the Kobold with his axe. "Too ready," he muttered under his breath.

"I see." He said as he put his clawed hands behind his back and stood up straight. His stance seemed to demand attention, "I am Captain Xanthe, and I'll be leading this operation. I have a couple of announcements to make."

"First, the nature of our mission will change slightly, Octavius here." he tilted his head at the magician next to him. "has deigned to offer his service's in the mission. It will be our task to ensure he is safe throughout the mission. There'll be consequences if even so much as a hair is harmed on his head. Am I understood?"

Everyone gave him a yes, Sir, and he continued,

"Now the second announcement concerns a re-emphasis in policy for both parties. For this mission, you are to be lightly equipped for ease of movement. You'll be permitted to take one weapon and one set of light armor from the armory behind me. Some basic provisions have been placed in bags at the back in the event of an emergency, and you can't make it to an outpost. You are only to take one per person. Is that understood?"

Everyone assented.

"Then go in and equip yourselves. I'll inform you that you will be monitored inside the building, don't try anything. You have 10 minutes." he said before he took a few steps back and opened the door behind him.

One by one, they all entered the building.

Eliza was one of the first to enter, and the smell of oak wood instantly assaulted her senses. She scanned the long hallway that was before her. Along the right wall, there were different kinds of weapons arrayed, each weapon type with a dedicated section. There were swords, two-handed swords, shields, and bows mixed with arrows.

The left side was neatly arrayed in a wide variety of armor from Leather to chainmail at the end of the hallway. At the very back, to either side of a table with burlap sacks on it, stood two guards who watched every movement of the two groups.

Ignoring the rest of the weapons, Eliza went straight towards the weapon that was most similar to the one she was familiar with, the spear, and began to look over her options. The spears were all similar, most likely produced in mass, but they would have to do. Eliza picked one up and tested its weight. It was decently balanced, and it looked sturdy enough to get the job done; choice made, Eliza went to find a set of armor.

Eliza looked over the armor and tried a couple of sets on. The primary problem being; they were all too big to fit on her small frame. Sighing, she thought back to the set of custom-made armor that she had lost when she escaped. She had even needed to leave behind her prized Naginata. None of this mass-produced crap could hold a candle to her previous stuff. But, until she got them back, she would have to make do with it.

Walking down the line, she finally found a leather armor set with straps that she could adjust until it was small enough. She put it on, and thankfully it fit, barely. It was a little loose, but it was the best she would get.

Armor and weapon chosen, she headed towards the table at the back that had different bags of provisions. They were split into two groups. One being bulkier than the other. The bags had a couple of long straps that would allow the person to loop their arms through to carry it on their back. Naturally, Eliza reached for one of the bigger bags but was stopped by one of the guards.

"Those aren't for your squad. Those are." He pointed her to the empty bags to the side of the table. Sighing, Eliza picked up one of the empty bags and left.

Eliza's stomach growled in response, and she scowled; with the lesser portion at lunch and now this, How were they supposed to have any energy to fight? Once she got out, she plopped down and sat on the platform's edge while she waited for the rest to finish.

She looked into the giant stone gateway as the small wooden gate built across the opening opened, and a couple of squads of prisoners exited. They were battered and looked exhausted as they walked past, some limping.

About a minute later, Demitrus plopped down next to her, soon followed by Leah and Leo. Eventually, Leo broke the silence saying, "You don't have to worry about Lycus; if he tries anything, he'll deal with us as a team, not just you.

"What makes you think I'm worried about that Musclehead? If he tries anything, I'll stab the idiot." Eliza grumbled.

Leo continued, "That's good and all, but know that we have to keep going until we finish our objective or die. As it is, he's an extra pair of hands that, at the very least, can serve as a distraction. So you can't just stab him."

"Pity, I understand, so don't worry," Eliza responded as she slung the bag over her shoulders.

"It's lovely to hear you say that, princess. Now that that's out of the way, I've been wondering. Why did you desert the Silverian Army? We don't need any nasty surprises in there. Demitrus said as he leaned back on his hands and started to kick his feet like a child. Eliza saw him looking at her from the corner of his eye.

Eliza's hand subconsciously grabbed onto the spear, and she sighed when she heard him call her princess again, "Because people I thought I could trust tried to kill me." she said.

"Why would they want to kill you? Did you do something to piss them off as I would?" Demitrus gave her a lopsided grin.

Eliza snorted, "As if. I did nothing, But to a guy who wants a lot of influence and power? I guess my existence was a big enough threat to him." She feigned disinterest but she began to grip the spear harder.

"How is your existence a threat to a guy like that? You're just a kid." Leah asked from down the line.

"Because, So long as I'm alive, he can't have what he wants." She said, her hand now clenched the spear.

"It's hard to believe that you have enough power to stop a man like that from getting what he wants. Who were you before you got here?" Leo asked,

Eliza shrugged "Who I was isn't important. As for me being a threat, you can ask Caldren about it; he was offered entrance into the Empire if he could kill me. He'll get defensive and deny it before trying to convince you to kill me somehow." She said as she slid off of the platform and landed on the grass beneath.

"But other than that, either you trust me, or you don't, doesn't matter to me. But enough of that times up." She said, indicating towards Captain Xanthe, who was gesturing at their group. The rest of the group gathered their stuff and jumped down as well.

"Alright," Demitrus said, "sounds like you are, or were some bigshot. Good to know."

"Think what you want," Eliza said indifferently, but she looked away as she started towards Xanthe.

They approached Xanthe and then stood around as the rest of the prisoners gathered together. Kolgit stood by Xanthe's side. Xanthe addressed the group,

"Nobody be stupid, and we should all come back alive; if I think you're being stupid and you're a threat to the operation, I'll kill you myself, is that understood?"

The group unanimously gave him yes, sirs, and he nodded. He then turned and led the way towards the wooden gate built between the stone archway.

On their approach, a guard recognized Xanthe and called out for the gate to be opened.

Beyond the gate, it was a gaping maw of darkness that seemed ready to swallow them whole. The group passed through and began their descent into the darkness.