Verdan’s construct was waiting patiently downstairs for them, and Verdan briefly regretted making its armament a part of it. Letting it carry the wounded Sorcerer would have been useful right about now.
Instead, they had a wounded retainer struggling to bear the burden, and from what Verdan could see as they stepped back outside, the situation hadn’t calmed down.
“Verdan, we either need to push forward or pull back,” Kai called out as he cut down a pair of Cyth Lai. “The fighting is drawing them here, and we don’t have the numbers to handle it.”
“Understood,” Verdan said, directing his construct to go and hunt down the Cyth before turning to the retainer. “Where are the rest of you hiding, and can you get us there?”
The retainer hesitated before giving a shaky nod. “There’s a group of connected tunnels under the city. The Elder has us using them to draw the Cyth into smaller fights where we aren’t so heavily outnumbered.”
Verdan perked up at the mention of an Elder but waved for the man to continue. “That’s good, but can you get us there?”
“Yes, there’s an entry not too far away, but if we bring the Cyth there…” The retainer trailed off with a worried look but Verdan waved away his concern.
“If it comes to that, I’ll collapse the entrance myself,” Verdan said firmly. He had no intention of risking however many survivors were in hiding.
“What about Elder Vaijon?” Ruthin asked before Verdan could do anything further. “He needs to know what’s going on so we can report back to the Commander.”
“We need to link up with the survivors. They’ll have injured that I can save,” Verdan said with a shake of his head. “I have to push forward, and I think Vaijon would agree.”
“Then I’ll take the word back to the Elder,” Ruthin said, flashing Verdan a crooked smile. “It isn’t like the Cyth can catch me if I put my mind to it.”
“True enough,” Verdan said, with a short laugh at the idea. He’d seen how fast Ruthin could move, even without magic.
“I trust this little conversation has been enough to give us a path forward?” Kai asked, walking over to join them as he flicked away the blood on his spear. “Gwen managed to get the Bayne, so we have a moment of peace. We need to use it before more of them arrive.”
“Agreed. Ruthin will head back to update Vaijon while we move forward to join the survivors and see what the situation is.”
Kai looked like he wanted to argue, but they both knew there wasn’t time and a few moments later Ruthin was on the way while they followed after the retainer.
Hedda took the injured Sorcerer from the retainer in an effort to get them moving more quickly and they wove their way through a few side alleys with growing urgency.
Hunting calls from the Cyth echoed all around them, though the vast majority came from where they’d been fighting.
“This way, quickly,” the retainer said, hurrying toward a weathered, squat building with thick stone walls. A thick wooden door stood in their way, but the retainer simply ran up and pulled on a hidden latch that made the door swing open.
“We were told how to open it in case of emergency,” the man said in response to Verdan’s questioning look. “The city guards taught us everything they know about these tunnels. We must hurry, though, the Cyth could be here any moment.”
Cullan shrugged and led the way inside, the rest of them following him in as the retainer closed and locked the door behind them.
“Not exactly what I expected,” Kai said in a dry tone as they looked around what seemed to be a long-forgotten warehouse with connected offices.
“Come on, the tunnel is this way,” the retainer said, hurrying past them with an anxious expression as he glanced at the unconscious Sorcerer Hedda was carrying.
Both of them seemed better than when Verdan had found them, but they needed rest and time to recover. Hopefully, once they got to the rest of the survivors, they would get the chance for both.
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The entrance to the tunnel turned out to be a fake wall in one of the offices, which concealed a steep set of stairs leading down into darkness.
“Disir,” Verdan said, cupping his hand to place a light atop his staff. “I will light the way. There’s no need for torches.”
Their guide managed a wan smile but didn’t start down the stairs, instead looking back at the entrance to the warehouse area with a worried look.
“Are you concerned that they’ll find this entrance?” Verdan asked gently, realising that the man was at his wit’s end.
The retainer nodded jerkily so Verdan muttered a spell and shaped the stone floor, dragging it up to seal the entrance completely.
The Cyth could break through it with enough time and effort, but unless they had a reason to, they were more likely to focus their efforts elsewhere.
“Satisfied?” Verdan asked the retainer, who nodded once more before hurrying down the stairs, only to pause as he reached the edge of Verdan’s light.
Adding a touch more Aether to the spell, Verdan followed suit and made his way down the stairs, his spell letting them take in the old stonework and worn stairs.
These tunnels were old, but they’d seen a lot of use, which made Verdan wonder what they were for. Gerann was known for its lumber and the growing number of farms around it, neither of which seemed to need tunnels.
There had to be something fairly substantial under the city to accommodate the survivors, so perhaps they’d know more once they reached it.
The stairs soon levelled off into a gently sloping passage, one that looked even older than the stairs if Verdan had to guess. The stonework was cracked and broken in more than a few spots, and the few repairs that he could see weren’t much better.
Intrigued, Verdan followed after the retainer as they started down the passage.
“This is why I hate going underground,” Cullan complained after only a few minutes of walking. The big Idrisyr was having to hunch down heavily to walk through the tunnel, but there wasn’t much Verdan could do about that. His construct was having the same issue, but that wouldn’t be an issue unless they had to fight.
Thankfully, the passage they were in was large enough that the rest of them had no issue, but that wasn’t too surprising with how human-centric everything was these days.
Then again, if this had been built back in the Imperium, it would likely have been made by a team of Brecan and Fwyn. That meant the whole thing would have been scaled for the Brecan, so Cullan would have been fine.
Verdan shook off his thoughts as they pushed on, walking for several minutes before he saw a light up ahead in the tunnel.
Only a moment after Verdan saw the light he heard voices echoing down the tunnel. There was some alarm at first, but it quickly faded, which made sense. After all, if they were a raiding group of Cyth, they’d hardly be carrying a light to guide the way.
A glance at their guide told Verdan that he had much the same opinion, but Verdan made sure to keep a shield spell at the ready, just in case.
As they drew closer, Verdan could see that the passage they were in opened out into a large room, which was the source of the light. Barricades had been set up at the opening, though they seemed to be made from a hodgepodge of materials.
“Disciple Alda?” A voice called out as they approached the barricade, and Verdan saw someone step up to the edge of the barricade and peer in their direction before quickly pulling back out of sight.
The retainer looked between the unconscious Sorcerer and Verdan with a worried expression, seemingly unwilling to answer on behalf of the unconscious man.
“He’s been incapacitated,” Verdan called back. “I’ve healed him, so he’s stable, but he should have a healer look him over.”
“Is the entrance secure?” The same voice called out again after a few moments.
“It is, I sealed it myself.” Verdan replied, waiting a few feet from the barricade.
A low murmur echoed out from the chamber before a pair of burly guards moved into view and dragged a section of the barricade to one side.
A hawkish looking man with a ripped guard’s uniform stepped into view and waved them forward. “Are you more survivors from the alliance army?”
“In a way, yes,” Verdan said, starting to head forward until Kai pulled him back and took the lead.
“Then you’re lucky you came across the Disicple, this is the last safe place in the city,” the guard said, moving aside as they filtered past him and into the larger area.
The chamber was a mix between a guard post and a storage room, with a ceiling was high enough that Cullan and the construct didn’t have to hunch down, which was something.
There were five guards present in total, and from the bedrolls and tables set up to one side, it looked like they were sleeping in here.
“They rescued us from the Cyth,” the retainer said, speaking up in a calmer voice now they were back in what seemed to be comparative safety.
“The others?” The guard in charge asked, grimacing as the retainer shook his head. “Curse the Cyth for what they’ve done. Still, if you’re ready, I’ll take you to the Elder to debrief.”
“Elder Vanarr?” Verdan asked quickly. “Is he still alive?”
“I thought you were part of the alliance army?” The guard asked, frowning as he glanced between them, his eyes resting briefly on Verdan’s construct. “I don’t remember seeing anything like that during the defence. Which Sect are you with?”
“We’re not with any of the Sects, we’re from the other half of the army. Think of us as scouts to see what the situation is, which is why we need to see the Elder as soon as possible.”
Verdan hadn’t wanted to reveal so much upfront, more in the interest of keeping things calm than anything, but better that than suspicion.
“The other half of the army,” the guard repeated in a whisper, his eyes going wide. “You mean reinforcements are coming?”
“Yes, but keep that quiet. I need to speak to the Elder first and see what the situation is. We don’t want to get hopes up and then find that driving the Cyth out will take longer than expected.”
“Of course, Lord Sorcerer,” the guard said, bracing to attention with a bright-eyed look. “I’ll bring you to the Elder immediately!”