It has been three days since Ian and Layla left the inn, and they have finally arrived at the edge of the Great Valley.

Ian hawks in amazement. They stand on the edge of a sharp decline that ends in a massive sink in the ground that goes on as far as the eye can see. Layla, in her excitement, slides down the rocky decline. Ian follows, albeit more cautiously.

"Hurry up!" Barks Layla. Ian smiles and starts sliding down with her. Their speed increases, and Layla starts to howl in pain as the friction on her paws increases. When they reach the bottom, Ian gracefully lands in the clearing and Layla somersaults onto her back. "Ouch."

The valley is sparse of trees, but thick grass and bushes litter the flat area. The duo wanders around the valley for almost half the day before they find the first sign of Horus’s Blind Eye. A few units march in a circle, making discourse among themselves. "Get behind this bush," says Ian. "I have a plan."

They both crouch in a large thicket and Ian throws a rock at one of the mercenary’s helmets, hitting it with a thud. The man turns to the soldier marching behind him.

"The feck you do that for, bruv?" He says.

"Do what?" Says the other.

"You just threw a rock at me head ya feckin dick!"

"No I didn’t!"

They break into a fist fight, the third soldier trying to break them up. Ian and Layla silently sneak past them while they’re fighting in the direction they were circling to. Two minutes of walking places them in front of a short stone tower with a few archers standing guard on the top. Ian throws a fan of kunai, silently slicing all of the archers in their necks, killing them almost instantly or stopping them from calling for help as they bleed out. One of them falls from the tower, which gives Ian an idea.

After slipping on the man’s outfit, Ian hides Layla in a shoulder bag he picked up in town and enters the tower. He finds that inside is a steep staircase going underground. What the hell…

The stairs descend for a very long time before Ian finally reaches solid ground. The hallway is big enough to not be claustrophobic, but it’s still dingy enough to remind him how far underground he is. He walks by various rooms and mercenaries, all wearing the same armor and cloth mask, and a few give him puzzled looks. Eventually, he finds a lone soldier and decides to stop and talk to him.

"Brother!" Says Ian. "The Lieutenant has requested to speak with me. Do you know where they are right now?"

The masked soldier responds, "The… Lieutenant? The one that hasn’t left their quarters for over 3 days and hasn’t spoken to anyone?"

Ian starts sweating. "Uh… yeah…"

The soldier tilts his head suspiciously… "Oh, glad to hear she’s feeling good enough to actually speak to us again! I’m assuming you transferred over here from the North Weapons Manufacturing Outpost. Her quarters are down the hall to the left."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Thanks…"

----------------------------------------

Turning down the hall and to the left, Ian is greeted with two doors. Shit. Guess I’ll try both. Ian opens the first door, and… discovers what they use this outpost for. Inside are giant iron cages with people in them, and on the wall are various tools such as bone saws and hammers. Sweet Rhea… is this a slave camp? The captives look up at him when he enters, and some of them flinch in terror.

Ian runs up to them and takes off his mask. "It’s okay! I’m not here to hurt you! As soon as I’m done here I’ll let you guys free, okay! I’m not with them." Ian looks around the cages. "Wait… Duke!?" The caged man he’s eyeing looks up suddenly.

"…Ian? Is that you?" The young man’s eyes well with tears. "I thought you were dead!"

"I thought you were dead!" Says Ian. "Horus killed everyone! How are you alive?"

Duke frowns. "Not everyone. The young and pretty and those who were able-bodied were taken here, to serve hard labor. The others were…" He can’t finish his sentence without crying.

"It’s okay now," reassures Ian. "When I’m done here I’ll get you all out." Duke forces a smiles and nods.

----------------------------------------

"Okay, Layla, I need you to sneak around and tell me how many people are in the Lieutenant’s room." He sets Layla down and she squeezes through the crack in the door. Through her eyes, Ian can see there’s only one woman inside. She’s holding some sort of odd boomerang-shaped device made out of wood and gilded with various metals. He calls Layla back and places her in the pouch again.

"Careful this time! Last time you closed this I—" She is cut off by Ian closing the bag.

Alright, this is it. One… two… three!

Ian kicks in the door and sprints over to the Lieutenant before she can react, holding his daggers to her throat. "What are you doing in here? Are you crazy!?" She screams. "Guards!"

"I closed the door," says Ian. "The only way your guards will be able to hear you is if they’re standing right outside in the hallway." Her face contorts in anger to resemble a sort of wicked dead tree.

"You fucker! I’ll have you—" Her angry rant is cut off when Ian removes his cloth mask. "Oh, shit…"

"Start talking."

The woman glances over at the wooden object she was holding earlier. "I assume you’re here so I can tell you where Horus is?" She asks.

"You’re smarter than you look," replies Ian. "Talk."

"The contraption over there?" She points to the wooden contraption. "It’s a beacon. If you know how to use it, it will always point to where his lair is. I have to show you how it works, though." Ian narrows his eyes.

"Pick it up. Slowly." She obliges, slowly placing the device in her hand. She points the gilded end towards Ian, pulls back a small piece on the top, and…

A loud bang sounds throughout the room. Ian feels a sharp pain in his chest and keels over on the floor, bleeding profusely.

"You’re such a dumbass," says the woman. "This is no beacon. Horus has been working on new weapons for us. He calls this one a flintlock. No idea how it works, but it shoots a hundred times faster than a bow and shields are basically useless against it. I haven’t fired it a single time yet and had the victim survive." She laughs a hideous laugh. "I’ll be taking that spear. I think I’ll also take your life as recompense for wasting my time." She smiles and cackles and once again points the "flintlock" at Ian’s head. He writhes in agony.

Suddenly, the Lieutenant screams in pain, and Ian looks up to see that Layla has jumped up and bitten her neck. Ian seizes the moment and grabs the spear from his back, throwing it at the woman. She is quick, however, and dodges the throw, which comes inches from her head. The spear sticks in the stone wall.

The Lieutenant grabs Layla and snaps her small neck with her hands. "You fucking morons! Just die!" She fiddles with the device, pouring some kind of black powder in it, and Ian noticed the spear in the wall starts wiggling back and forth on its own. He wills it to come back to him, and just as the woman is about to use the device again, the spear flies out of the wall back to his hand, flying straight through her skull and causing her shot to go off on an angle, missing Ian. The woman flops to the floor, dead. Shit! I wasn’t supposed to kill her! How the hell am I gonna find Horus now!?