Sayed lay in the dirt, overlooking the camp below from the brush with Jean and Captain Bargen's first mate, Michael, at his side. Michael was a man of sorts, made of the same rotting flesh as the rest of his crewmates. Sayed believed that Erin had called them drim. However, as Sayed looked down at the excavation camp, he could ignore their outer appearance. They were brothers in bondage, and that was all that mattered.

The camp was built partially into the mountain, where the land had naturally filled in around the various ruined buildings. The drim below were digging away with pickaxes and hand drilling into stone with hand drills, while others of their number focused on carrying away the rock and debris in carts to the edge of the camp. Some buildings were exposed, all made of a dark black rock that ate the moonlight around them. Just one of the taller spires of one of the buildings was exposed down to an open door, but the drim worked on nonetheless.

"They're still working this late at night," Jean said. "Do they not tire?"

"We drim can work harder and longer than you humans." Michael snorted. "That's why we're often hired for labor. We're cheap to hire, and you can push us harder. But normally, we wouldn't be working this late. It looks like Mister Deadman is pushing us harder."

"But why the need for the chains?" Sayed grumbled as he looked down at the chains binding the legs of the drim down below. "If you are working for a wage, then there would be no need for the chains."

"We start working for a set wage, sure," Michael said, quirking his head. "But once you get on a site and the job seems bigger, the rules change. The pay doesn't. Some people try to run when that happens, and the chains keep them from running."

"Tough negotiations," Jean whispered.

"We tried to run, but they have our mates down there," Michael said. "Now they have a set of hostages we have to abandon if we want to leave."

A fire burned in Sayed's heart as he looked down on the drim, no the men, down below. His entire body burned to free them, but he had to remember the plan. If he just ran in, then Alex would be angry at him. Sayed respected Alex, and it would take much for him to disobey that request.

So long as they freed the men below, he could wait.

"Some of our men work with them to keep order, but the main enforcers are Cragg and Bragg." Michael pointed to two rotund men below.

They weren't drim, but they were oddly shaped. They were large men with almost spherical bodies, almost like the dough man Sayed had faced off with back on Zanghai. They were both bald, and each had the faint whisp of a beard running over their faces. One was currently picking his ear, while the other had one finger digging into his mouth.

"Strong, but not very smart," Michael said. "Beyond Mister Deadman, those Knuckles are our real problems."

"What's a Knuckle?"

"Fingers work for Hands. Knuckles work for Fingers," Michael said. "You guys probably don't know anything about Undertown, but that's how things are. That's how the Underground Lords run their operations."

Sayed did not care for any of this. Instead, he kept his eyes watching the men down below. Cragg and Bragg walked through the camp together. One had a massive two-handed sword that he held balanced on his shoulder as he walked. The other had a massive hammer that he carried balanced on the opposite shoulder. Sayed watched as they came upon one of the workers below, towering over the man.

His heart burned inside him.

"And where is this Mister Deadman at?" Jean asked.

"His office is there." Michael pointed to a rounded door built into the wall of the excavation site on a platform. "He doesn't spend much time there, so if he were here, he would be wandering around."

"So, the boss is out, and the two underlings remain." Jean smiled. "If we were not just here to look, I would say now was an opportune time to attack. The winds of fate already blow in our favor."

Sayed watched as the man with the hammer, he did not know the name, raised it, and brought it down on the drim. More fire burned inside of Sayed's chest, and he clenched his teeth. He had to remember his promise. He had to stick with the plan.

Sayed slipped on his silvered gauntlet, rising to one knee as he looked down on the camp below.

"Michael, your brothers down there suffer under bondage," Sayed said. "They cry out for help, and we have been sent here to save them."

"That wasn't the plan," Michael said, standing and holding up his hands. "Your boss said you're just here to scout the situation out. Cragg and Bragg are stronger than the captain. We can't just run down there—"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Fate predicted this," Jean said, smiling as he pulled his robes off his body. "That is why it sent me along with you, Sayed!"

"For glory!" Sayed yelled as he jumped off the ledge and down into the camp.

Thump.

Sayed landed in a squat, catching himself with his arms out before he reached up and drew his khopesh from his back. He left his second one still sheathed as he faced the two large men. The one with the hammer looked up from where he had smashed down his hammer on the crushed drim.

"Bragg, I think that's an intruder."

Thump.

"Spirit Swing."

Jean landed next to Sayed, a purple glow surrounding his body as Eliza climbed up his chest to wrap around his neck. A smile was plastered across his face as he stood up from his own landing, reaching out one arm with Eliza's spectral hand entwined over his own.

"Cragg, that's two intruders," the one with the sword said, taking his finger from his ear. "We're going to need to stop them."

"Your devilry ends today," Sayed said. "You would bring these men low with your chains, but we will free them!"

The two brothers looked at each other, and Sayed hesitated. Neither of them seemed very bright. For a moment, Sayed suspected that he might be able to finish them with the threat alone. However, the brothers only nodded at each other.

"They're not devils," Cragg said. "They're employed."

"We're just making them work," Bragg said.

"Why don't you just leave," Cragg finished.

"Bound Strike!"

The brothers moved as one. Cragg raised his hammer, and Bragg swung his sword from his shoulder. They came faster than they should have, jumping through the air with one quick motion from one leg while they swung their weapons in tandem.

"Demon's Thrust!"

Sayed charged forward with his blade but could only focus on one brother. He picked the swordsman, aiming his thrust at the man's chest. The air around him shot with him like a cannonball, and Sayed thrust his blade out as he threw his entire body into the thrust.

Ting.

Cragg's hammer caught Sayed's sword and knocked it to the side. It shook in Sayed's hand, but he still held firm. Sayed brought up his gauntlet because he knew that Bragg's slash was coming next. If his gauntlet failed, he would lose his hand to the massive sword.

"Spirit Step."

Ding.

In a blur of motion, Jean appeared beside Cragg, holding Eliza's arm fully extended as she thrust a kick into the air. Bragg's blade was pushed aside with the kick, and Sayed twisted his body to the right to avoid the blow altogether. Bragg's blade hit the ground, cleaving a line in it.

Boom. Crack.

The air from the force of the strike pushed Sayed to the side, and he nearly ran into Jean as he fought to keep his balance. Together, they jumped away from the brothers. Sayed realized at that moment that they weren't to be underestimated.

"They are strong," Sayed said, his breath coming in short bursts as he watched the brothers recover from their attack and hold their weapons ready.

"They work well together." Jean nodded. "This isn't going to be a solo dance, but a dance with a partner. We'll have to watch out for each other if we want to win."

"Agreed."

"We may have just met, Sayed, but fate brought me on this path with you for a reason," Jean said. "We must win."

"Then let us take down these brothers and free these men," Sayed said with a smile. "In the name of God, we will free them!"

"What're they talking about, Bragg?"

"I don't know, Cragg. We just need to crush them."

"Bound Tops!"

"Run for your lives!" one of the drim yelled as he pulled against his chains.

Together, the brothers held their weapons behind them before swinging as hard as they could in a circle. They spun faster and faster, becoming almost like children's toys spinning in a center as they bounced against each other and out into the camp in random directions.

"Bosses, what are you-"

Drim ran away from the brothers, but many could not run fast enough. Some lost heads, some lost arms as they were crushed and slashed by the brother's assault. Sayed clenched his teeth tight as his heart burned in his chest. He could not allow such an atrocity.

"We must separate them," Sayed said, picking the whirling mass with a hint of blue in it. "Demon's Thrust!"

"Spirit Step!"

Ting. Ding.

Sayed charged for the center of the blue top, thrusting forward with his sword. Metal clashed against metal as his sword clattered against the spinning blade. His thrust was forced away from the brother, but he was able to interrupt the spinning motion, sending Bragg spinning and falling to the ground with his blade, carving up a line of dirt and rock around him along the way.

In his periphery, Sayed could see that Jean had accomplished much the same. Cragg lay on the ground, his hammer to his side as he clutched at his head. The whirling attack was countered, and they had the brothers separated.

There was a good chance here. They could win.

Sayed ignored the burning in his chest as he took on a stance. On any other day, in any other moment, he would have called on his blessing to fuel his fight. When there were men's lives on the line, he could not take the time to make a fight exciting. However, he remembered how Alex had felt his heart burn before he had been brought down for his own blessing to change. Sayed knew his blessing well, and normally, it did not simply burn in his chest on its own. No, it was an act of will to open the gate, to take part in the blessing of God.

Which meant that if he opened his gate again, he would be useless for a time. Sayed would have to wait, and he would have to win this fight without his blessing. He smiled to himself as the brother stood up, sticking his sword in the ground for leverage as he glared up at Sayed.

"You ain't playing fair," Bragg said. "You ought not go and separate family like that."

"You will join your brother in defeat once we have finished with you." Sayed couldn't help but bare his teeth in a smile. "With how you throw away the men beneath you, you will deserve every wound we give you today."

Bragg looked at him with a vacant stare for a moment, and Sayed guessed that Bragg was having trouble understanding what he said. The man reached up with one finger, putting it in his ear as he balanced his sword on his back.

"I don't get it," Bragg said, lifting his heavy blade in one hand. "But orders are orders, and intruders need to be cut up!"

Sayed braced himself as Bragg charged at him again, sword held high.