Uno, a strike leader of the Double Down Gang, grimaced as he took in the scene. He touched his soundwave as he reported, "Boss, the Prince is free, and with the help of the other slaves, he's fighting his way through the caravan guard. Should we change our direction and stop them first?"
Ladders replied to Uno, "No! We must secure Hatshepsut at all cost." Ladders knew all too well what would happen to them if she wasn't able to get Hatshepsut to Montezuma. If only we didn't have to leave her with that stupid caravan over the last week. Those damn tracking Elves were relentless! Ladders fumed to herself.
Uno replied, "Yes, Boss." He knew not to ask too many questions. His strike team was brought in to take the place of several teams that were on the run from a team of Elves, and no one spent enough money to hire an entire team of tracking Elves unless it was something big!
This is a damn mess, Ladders thought to herself as she watched Uno's team advance towards the caravan's Slave cavern. She didn't know how, but the Caravan must have found out Montezuma had ordered the Double Down gang to get Hatshepsut and to exterminate everyone in the caravan and any other witnesses.
Uno's entire strike team was easily moving through the camp, as no one was trying to stop them or get in their way. On the contrary, everyone was scattering like ants upon seeing them, except for a tiny woman that was moving to intercept their path. Uno signaled for two of his team to peel off and take care of her, while he was going to continue moving forward. That's when he felt it, Ladders felt it, everyone felt it! An aura of sickly evil and despair. Several of Uno's team stumbled and momentarily fell to a knee. Uno was terrified, but he refused to look weak in front of his strike team, and ordered, "Get up you chicken shits! We've got a job to do!" However, there was no way he was going to be the first one to enter the slave Cavern. Uno started to slap one of his men when Ladder's shaky voice came over all of their soundwaves, "Get the fuck out of there now or you’re all dead!" Ladders then sent Uno a private soundwave, "Uno, count this warning as the favor I still owe you. Don't come looking for me. You and your team need to run! We're all going to be targeted for termination now that Hatshepsut is free. Our deaths are certain, it's just a matter of when and by who. Good luck. I'm out!"
**********
Tamako was preparing to engage the group of fighters heading towards the tent with the hidden slave cavern, when the aura of evil and intimidation hit her. She roared a berserker rage in response, and attacked the aura with her own killing intent. As her AI informed her of Jen's and Sam's status, Tamako swore to herself, "Damnit! I have to take care of these thugs first!" Tamako raised her ring to unload some ballista bolts into the thugs. To heck with the cost of the bolts, I need to get to Jen and Sam, she thought. However, as the thugs staggered to their feet, they didn't charge her, but turned and struggled to run away as fast as possible.
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As Tamako raced to the tent, Jen messaged, "The aura from the bagged girl has me frozen in fear, and most of my multi-focuses are also too terrified to function. Oh god!!!! Get your weapons out before you get too close! There's something attacking our enchantments! Our mana tattoos are turning to rock! She's trying to destroy the enchantments on her chains!..."
Tamako shut off Jen's comments as they turned to hysteria. She stored her special shield and withdrew from her storage ring an unenchanted shield and spear as she entered the tent. Tamako's berserker rage and killing intent stopped the bagged girl's aura from totally shutting her down, but she still felt like she was struggling through knee-deep mud as her own killing intent was being compressed in around her. Tamako then felt her tattoo enchantments start turning to some type of excruciating concrete, making it difficult for her to move her arm and move her leg/ass where her healing and lightning tattoos were located. Tamako ignored the pain and forced her body to move, causing her skin to rip apart at the edges of the concrete where her tattoos used to be. Tamako noticed Sam frozen in exactly the same place and position as when he grabbed the bag around the girl to try and lift it off. However, his eyes were unfocused and there was drool running out of his mouth. She used her anger to fuel a last burst of killing intent that would allow her to strike the bound woman with her spear, when she heard Sam mumble, "Reset the seal. My hand broke the seal..."
Tamako's killing intent was spent with the burst of power she'd just pumped into it. She only had one strike with the spear. She thought, No one is blaming you Sam. There's no way you could have known. Now DIE BITCH! As she slammed her spearhead directly into part of the girl's exposed body. Tamako then fell to the ground in terror after her spear shattered against the girl's skin, and she could hear the girl cackling at Tamako's failure, but her laugh only lasted for a few seconds before there was an abrupt halt to her cackling, as Tamako watched Slim slowly advance towards Sam and smack Sam's hand off the underside of the edge of the bag where he'd grabbed it.
The aura of fear shut off like a door being slammed shut, but Tamako wasn't able to recover from its effects right away. She just lay there as she watched Slim check on the condition of Sam, and heard Sam mumble a message to Slim, "The enchanted rod against the wall. It's used to feed her. It won't break the bag's seal. Do something quick! The enchantments on her chains and bag were very strong, but they are quickly degrading from the damage she caused."
Tamako was rising up and pulling Sam's unmoving body towards the cavern's exit as she watched Slim grab the poker and grip it tightly in his paw just as he let out growl of strength and power and stabbed the poker up under the bag’s edge and into what Tamako suspected was the girl's face and head.
Even with all the blood gushing out from the bottom of the bag, caused by Slim's twisting and re-stabbing of the poker into the girl, Tamako was still afraid she might still be alive, until she watched Slim loot her dead body.
Tamako grimaced at Sam's condition, and with their healing tattoo's destroyed, she hoped Jen had a plan.