The area was covered in dust. The ground had ceased to be made of cobblestone from here onwards, only dirt was below her.

Gray walls rose on all sides, confirming into a jagged roof above. The place was hallowing, and even in the early morning, it receded back into dim lights like a gaping abyss. There were numerous openings along both sides of the walls, some large, others small. There was a small gate and there were two rectangular buildings beside it, standing upright with three floors each. A mass of people stood away from that place, almost afraid to touch it, they merely stared. It was as if they were waiting for something.

Claire picked up some hesitant murmurs.

"Shouldn't the expedition be back by now?"

"Shouldn't you be a bit more patient?" A voice snarled.

"Yes, but it has been almost a full day now. Thirty people entered, knights, adventurers, and even mages. I don't know what you're thinking...but I have a bad feeling about this..."

Most of the people here were dressed in simple uniforms with gray tops and gray pants. However, they were all covered in dust and dirt, Claire had an inkling that they might not be dressed in gray after all.

The atmosphere was tense. It had been almost a day since the expedition entered the mines, these men here were workers gathered to see if anything had come of it. However, no words had come yet.

"Even the messenger hasn't come out since then...they were supposed to send one of Blood Raven out every hour or so. It has been more than six hours since the last."

The group continued walking, passing through the small sea of people and eventually making their way towards the small gate.

"Hey! What are you guys doin-" Someone hurriedly tried to stop them.

It was at that moment that something fluttered. It was a black-feathered bird, large and barely visible within the dim environment.

"A Blood Raven!?! They finally sent one out!" The cries of the crowd rang as they recognized the animal at a glance.

The area instantly erupted into a chaotic jitter, but soon died down into tenseness as the raven dropped down.

They had realized it by now... its flight was an injured one, it barely managed to wobble through the air before landing in what was akin to a crash just outside the gate. Blood leaked from a wound at its shoulder, just where its left wing connected to its body, and black feathers fell as it trashed around.

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"What the..." Fieth gaped at the animal.

Its head bobbed here and there before its crimson eyes looked forward. It cried out in a wince of pain. Claire walked towards the creature, her brows furrowed, before crouching down and gingerly picking it up.

There was a folded paper tied to its right leg, she hurriedly removed it before handing the animal to Alicia.

"Heal it," She spoke, unruffling the paper at her hand.

There was only one paragraph written on the parchment. It was covered with spots of blood mixed with dirt. The lines were jagged, rushed, scribbled all over the place, and with little care or form as if the person had barely finalized it. Claire's keen eyes stared intently at what could only be seen as scribbles and managed to make out the bare minimum of what was said...

"Don't come in! Half of us have already fallen and I'm afraid we are trapped here. There's little hope and I don't know if the rest of us can make it out alive. They've captured some of the younger girls. I don't know if the captain is still alive. This place isn't an infestation. Gather an army! They're preparing for war!"

The words flowed out of her lips, it was as chaotic as the lines on the piece of paper. She was neither loud nor soft, yet, everyone heard it clearly.

It was as if a bomb had dropped. The entire area had fallen into silence. There was a collective gulp.

"I'll...I'll go get the city lord!" Someone yelled, breaking away from the crowd.

"I'll go call boss!"

"Fu*k that! I'll go warn my family to prepare!"

With the first commotion, the whole area soon erupted into a frenzy as people began to break off one after another.

Alicia held the bird in her hands, a white light shining. Its wings trembled slightly before it began to meld back in place as if it was being sewed together with its body.

It squawked, waving its newly healed wings around. It rubbed its head against her thumb before looking up at that masked face as if a thank you. Its black figure flickered, grew blurry, and soon began to disperse like a shadow. A flame-like blackness died down atop her hand.

Alicia revealed a small smile before bringing the small drops of blood on her hand to her mouth and proceeding to lick them off. She soon had to spit it all back out—the blood of a Blood Raven did not taste good.

"What do we do now?" Fieth asked, stroking his chin. He already planned to enter no matter what, but he was curious about what the girls thought of the matter.

"We go in...but the problem is knowing where the bird flew out from, did anyone of you catch it?" Claire shrugged, replying as if it was a matter of fact.

"It came from the tunnel to the far right, three from the back." Aura looked up, speaking, tightening her grip on the backpack as if she was already ready to enter at any moment.

Claire turned her head, "You actually saw it?"

The girl nodded with a smile.

"She's a Dark Elf, she can see in the dark with her eyes. The golden eye she has also allows her to see farther than most," Fieth chimed in for the girl.

"Impressive." Claire gave a nod.

"...I saw it too..." Alicia murmured, rubbing her tongue with her finger and finally remove the disgusting taste from her memory.

The small gate was opened with the black key and they stepped in.