At a certain distance from the room, the corridor was too dark even for Nua’s night vision. Anki instructed her to spend a flicker of ether on the magical torches that decorated the walls. Some of them were out of commission, but most just lacked the energy to work.

Not too long after, they arrived at the door.

It was wide, just like the entrance to the tower, and half-retracted into the ceiling. Nua lighted an additional magic lamp, her eyes adapting to the sudden flash, and then to twilight again. The new chamber reminded her of the place where she first saw the ushumgars and the smaller mobile armor suits. It was spacious like a temple hall, reinforced with pillars, perhaps designed to store mechanized vehicles or goliaths. She did not know why this kind of storage room was located so deep underground, and she did not think much about it. She found other, more urgent problems for her to consider.

The floor was littered with therapy tanks, clearly torn out from their original locations and dragged here with loose cables still hanging from the containers. All tanks were broken, and the glass shards covered the floor. Nua almost stepped on one of them, near the entrance, but she noticed it in time.

It was not difficult to guess where all the bodies went.

There was a structure spread between the pillars in the back. It was made of meat.

Or rather flesh, because it was still alive, resembling a tumor without a body; swollen, streaky with veins, and marbled with yellow fat. On a second glance, Nua recognized smaller tumors forming the whole structure, each the size that could fit a humanoid, similar to a cocoon. Some were empty, popped like a large zit, now oozing pink liquid. Bones that supported the array were sticking out here and there since the abomination was built rather haphazardly.

Less like a honeycomb, and more like a wood pigeon’s nest, Nua thought in shock.

Then she tasted bile in her mouth and promptly emptied the contents of her stomach on the floor.

She did not hear from Anki, but she could glean his anger building. Then, she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and there was a very short moment before she realized who that was, when she almost went all out with her ether.

“Shhh.” Oswald was speaking in a low voice. “There is something behind it.”

The blue spirit sat on Nua’s other shoulder.

“The broodmother does not leave the lattice,” Anki informed. “I do not think, however, that this thing is vulnerable to arrows.”

“Does Raya still have any liquid flame?” Nua whispered. “Dunno, hidden deeper in her bag?”

“We need to ask her. We cannot leave it like that anyway. If they found a way in here, they could easily return to the surface after they hatch.”

They looked at each other, considering another possibility – that the ghouls came from the bottom levels and the whole place was infested.

“What if the temple is full of them?” Nua’s voice trembled.

“Simple enough,” the king stated icily. “We kill them all. The chance that the patients could be brought back to life after centuries of suspended animation was negligible. But it still existed.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Let’s go back,” Oswald said. “Then we’ll talk.”

***

Back in the medical chamber, Oswald filled in the rest. Quintus, who had the best imagination in the party, made a shocked expression. The others took the news with raised brows.

“We need to eradicate it,” Oswald said. “Then, we get whatever scrap we can and we call it a day. Idris was right; this is too risky. We’re almost out of ether already.”

“As I understand, it doesn’t move and it is not a threat for now,” Zaina said. “Why make an effort? It’s not like we were paid to kill it.”

Anki was still sitting on Nua’s shoulder, whispering directly into her ear.

“We must purge all the monstrosities from the temple,” he hissed. “We need to go deeper.”

“Anki, calm down. You don’t even sound like yourself. I’m starting to worry,” Nua placated the king, and at the same time she was racking her brain on how to convince her companions to perform what she viewed as a rightful concession to the ancient Autarch’s demands. The ghouls ate his daughter’s subjects; Anki had all the reason to get mad.

She looked at Quintus. The mercenaries didn’t care much for the people of Azure Falls and the future threat that the ghouls presented, and appealing to their conscience would not work. They had their pride, though.

“Come on,” she said. “It’s not like you’re afraid of the ghoul’s mom. And if we cut it apart, that’s priceless knowledge. Hessa would love to hear how they breed. Erm. I’m not sure if “love” is the correct word, but…”

“Who’s afraid?” Lykomedes asked. “I’m not afraid.”

“The kid’s right,” Quintus scratched his stubble. His left eyelid twitched when he heard Nua’s accusation, but now he was acting as if he made his decision on rational premises. “It’s sellable information. These tidbits of knowledge are worth solid aurei. Who knows, perhaps it’s the best treasure in the room. Let’s do it.”

Zaina sighed and shook her head.

“Raya, could you make more liquid fire?”

The priestess nodded.

“I have enough half-products. I don’t carry it all mixed, for obvious reasons.”

“Hey, if we burn it, we can’t dissect it,” Lykomedes mentioned.

“We can dissect it, then burn it,” Oswald proposed. “I can do the dissecting.”

“We can burn a major part of it, then dissect the rest,” Zaina proposed. “That would be safer and wiser.”

“Slaying something is not the same as dissecting,” Nua blurted, then covered her mouth. Oh, no. All the healing she got from Anki, and still, sometimes she acted faster than she could think. At this point, she just assumed it was in her original destiny, by the Autarch’s understanding of that term.

“Oh, I forgot we have a specialist on board,” Zaina brightened up. “Don’t you worry, we will leave you a good chunk of it.”

Raya took some time to prepare new vials. From the depth of her bag, she produced a clay beaker, then three thick ceramic bottles, each one full of a different liquid. She mixed two kinds of them in the beaker. Nua imagined the process to look as sorcerous as its effect, but the priestess did not allow her to come closer, so she sent Anki to spy. To her disappointment, both liquids were clear and they turned slightly milky upon mixing. No fancy colors, no bubbling, nothing.

Raya portioned the mixture into four round vials, smaller than a fist, and sealed them with a plug. She washed the beaker with the third liquid, which was deep violet for a change, and then with some water. Finally, she closed her eyes. Nua saw wisps of bright aquamarine ether leaving her hands.

“Now,” she said, “Tread carefully.”

There was a long moment of silence when the mercenaries finally got to the hall with the lattice. Nua heard them mumbling curses under their breaths. Finally, Zaina spoke.

“You were right, Oswald, I’ll give you that. Kill it with fire.”

Nua looked at the Northerner who was aiming the bottle at the breeding lattice. It was a long throw, and he had the most strength, so it was natural that he would do the honors. How large was the structure? It was as long as two tall people lying in a line, spanned between the pillars… then a detail drew her attention. Her blood ran cold. She tried to shout a warning, but it was already too late.

A vial flew. Then another. There was an explosion, and a flame reaching the ceiling. A blurred shape shrieked in the center of the lattice, and the whole structure shuddered, twisted, and groaned. Then, something large, with multiple limbs, emerged from the fire.

At the same time, they heard a horrible crack, and the right pillar started toppling over.