“Get out...Don’t let him find you…Get out!”

“Get out...Don’t let him find you...Get out!”

“Get out...Don’t let him find you....Get out!”

The first two messages were lost. Swallowed up a ghastly groan, that drowned out absolutely everything. The third was heard only by one particular group of three contractors.

The words coming from the mouth of a woman who wore a mask of aether-enriched gold and modified orichalcum. Her entire face hidden, the mask topped with the sharp crenellations of an ornate crown. A crown inlaid with jewels that had created from deft spellwork and colorful shadows.

The groaning continued, an agonized moan, that spoke of pain and grief and as it continued, the woman spoke once again, repeating herself. Her barely audible mutters lost within her pained panting.

“Get out...Don’t let him find you...Get out...”

Finally silence fell and when it did, it wasn’t a mere absence of noise, it was a butchering of sound. The murder of all ambient noise, be it from the local animals, or from the nearby people, or the slight hum of the unconscious.

All had been forced to hold mum. Muted for fear of the dreadful groans return. Then finally a few folk dared to talk.

“What the devil was that?” said a man, who was dressed in gleaming silver-blue armor. A great blade, that was far too long to be used in the tent they were standing in, strapped to his back.

“Nh...Interesting choice of words.” said Billy. Not really thinking as he spoke. His eyes on Elena and Edna. Checking to see that they were okay.

Elena was recovering from something that wasn’t quite a swoon, barely standing. Edna, was leaning against a sturdy stack of crates, one hand pressed against her brow. The parts of her face that weren’t hidden behind her silver-white domino mask, scrunched up in pain.

“Yo, you guys good?” asked Jermaine. His voice hushed, barely audible, barely above a whisper. Kept as quiet as possible, because this was not the time for anyone to be showing weakness.

“Yeah. All’s well, mate. You do you and we’ll hold the rear.”said Edna.

Hiding her pain, behind her usual smile, with only a slight beading of sweat, to reveal the lie in her jovial tone.

“Mn...Good then. Unless you think you can’t handle it. In which case….”

Billy was about to speak up, he looked up past the mouth of the tent. Past the wall of soldiers and elite guardsmen that patrolled the area. Past the field of flickering, eerie black silhouettes.

He looked up at the blue prism that lay at the center of it all. Ominous and glowing. Its only connection to the real world, the set of mobile stairs that someone had placed near the entrance.

“Well, ladies and gents...We only have a few days of scheduled time before it’s open season, so I think we best make the best of it. So let’s do some quick, easy introductions before we start.”

*****

Open Season was what they called the opening of the labyrinth to the general public. There were many reasons why the greater powers of Argus would do such a thing.

First of all the kingdoms and sects, naturally couldn’t just sit on the labyrinth’s entrance for ever. It’d be too expensive to do so. Especially since they generally used their elites for this purpose.

The second reason why Open Season would be allowed was because not doing so would be counter-intuitive.  The Great Kingdoms, the Church, the Sects, Guilds and the More Powerful Companies that served them, closed ranks and kept out the riff-raff, in hopes of being able to cleanly gleam the most benefits within a ruin, or labyrinth by themselves.

A thing that they did just in case something of real worth was found inside. After all it was in places like this that they rediscovered cell phones, computer equipment, and automated factories for other old world tech.

It was in places like this that they found the thaumaturgical superweapons, serums, and cultivation aids that helped the Great Kingdoms dominate the continent and influence most of the planet. They couldn’t ‘not’ try to make the most of such opportunities.

Open Season was just for those times that they failed to beat the labyrinth or capture it in its totality. They opened the gates to outsiders and freelancers more or less them as cannon fodder to help clear the way for their own people.

They’d close ranks for as long as they thought they needed to and for as long as they could afford to. Switching to relying on the efforts of the unwashed masses and a certain baseline, of favored associates once they opened the floodgates.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

*****

The introductions were neither quick, nor easy, lasting most of the day. It essentially amounted to a very long dick measuring contest. A near endless line of prestigious and sometimes even talented so-and-so’s, who all came out in turn.

Strutting and flexing, and showing their shiny toys and a few hints at their power. With their patrons and representatives listing their unnecessarily long feats and names and backgrounds.

The prism had attracted the attentions of Three martials Sects; The Five Dogs Sect, The Eastern Hill Sect, and The Twelves Soul Sect. It had also attracted the five great guilds. With the EITC and the Council of Seven Sons, Mages Guild, putting in extra effort by hiring twice the usual number of associates. Which was actually of why and how, the Thousand Ghosts, and by extension the Bone Tree Company, were here. Serving as one of the EITC’s associated groups.

Billy ignored most of it, only paying attention to three main groups, besides his own. The first group was a lead by the people of the Twelve Souls Sect.  A group of young martial experts who were allied with the men of a few companies and experts of The Eastern Hill Sect.

With an arrogant looking young woman named Esme as their leader.  She was the young scion of one of Lloyd’s nobles and a core pupil of the Twelve Souls Sect. With the kingdom being backed by the two major sects that lay within its borders.

Her look was arrogant, undaunted despite the way their kingdom was being imposed upon. She certainly didn’t look like a noblewoman from a beaten country.  She had the look of someone with a chip on her shoulder. In her eyes he saw the kind of drive that often got people killed.  

She glanced over the crowd and her eyes narrowed, as if she’d seen an opponent amongst all their faces. While he didn’t think the look was meant for him, Billy made a mental note, deciding to keep a good amount distance between her and himself.

The second group to catch his eye was made up of people wearing a mixture of alabaster armour and clean white vestments. Representatives of the church, that again, had some company boys working beneath them. They were headed by a young genius who went by the name of Ludwik. Tall, lean, sharp red eyes, straight orange hair.

He was one of the few in the room, to have reached the fifth tier, the nascent layer. One of the few such practitioners who were present.  A sublime-ranked Practitioner. Considering that he’d made it to that rank before his second century, when he was just twenty seven years old, it was enough for others to classify the boy as a monster.

He came to Billy’s attention, because he kept staring. Those hawkish, orange eyes, of his falling onto the Bone Tree Company and staying there for an uncomfortably long time.

The third group that got Billy’s attention was the product of a partnership of the Great Kingdoms of Albrecht and Gwenael. They pretended just be a company by the name of Three-Gate Ixion. Each great kingdom even paraded some formidable ringers, but Billy had looked up all his future colleagues before hand.

Three-Gate Ixion was a project of both the Albrecht and Gwenael, with the Ministry of Public order, sort of, but not really, manipulating it in the background. They were a clean fairly formidable outfit with the  weakest of their members all at the Exalted-Rank.

Their leader and strongest member, a horse-kin man by the name of Keyair Horne, who’d reached the fifth layer as well, doing pretty well for himself by reaching it at just one hundred and thirty-years of age.

His looks belying his years, sharp and clean. His hair dark blue hair cut short, though the hairs of his  tail had been grown long and tightly braided. Even if Billy hadn’t known about the connection between the Ministry and the Company he’d have still been able to guess it from just seeing the guy.

Keyair, bore the same, affected non-conspicuousness that all spies, thieves, assassins and spooks of all sorts learned to wear. You could clearly tell that the man was hiding in plain sight.

*****

“Alright, now that we all know each other, let’s move. Daylight’s burning and we want to get to the third floor before night falls.” said Arold the leader of their little raid.

A man from that the KOG sent as an intermediary since theirs was the most neutral of all the powers. Even more neutral than the Ministry which never openly sent representatives or forces anywhere. Instead choosing to ‘helpfully’ volunteer to manage what everyone else was doing. Making ‘all’ their lives easier.

“What happens at nightfall?” said one person.

“Why the third floor?” said another person.

Arold just rolled his eyes.

“Those are some stupid questions, people...Now do you want me to give you some stupid answers or are we going to get out of here?” said the man. After clapping his hands, he marched out of the tent. His arrogance and surety of his position showing as he simply marched, expecting everyone, to A) not take offense at his words, and B) follow him like the good little ducklings they were.

After some grumbling from the more prideful folk, the party marched as one. Following their leader as he marched them into the field. Marching past the jittering, twitching silhouettes.

Ignoring the occasional moan of a few that came when the weaker willed members of the party actually touched one of the shadow creatures. The more unlucky individuals seeming to seize up and fall unconscious. Foaming at the mouth as they lay on the ground with crowds of shadow things gathering at their position. Making the air there increasingly cold.

Supervisor Arold lead them to the prism. He lead up the stairs that lead to the double doors entrance. He opened the doors and then marched right inside.

As everyone entered there were more groans, and more pleas. The ghastly voice called for  their exit,  warning them that ‘he’ was coming to find them. Though it seemed only Billy and Edna and Elena heard those.

Billy wondered if what they were doing was really the wisest thing for them to be doing but the girls seemed fairly determined to see things through to the end. After all it really was to good an opportunity to pass up.

Disregarding the pay from the Thousand Ghosts, just being here alone would give them countless chances to pick up something priceless. Many a legend was born from such fortuitous circumstances.

Arold slid his warhammer out of the storage spell within his cell. A confident grin on his face.

Matching his actions with his words, he and everyone else armed themselves. Billy and Edna chose to limit the use of their extra abilities because it was just generally common wisdom to try and  hide at least a few of one’s tricks when working in a group. After all today’s friends could be tomorrow’s enemies.

That’s what it meant to be a contractor. He would shrink his tail’s length down to a more mundane length. Arming himself with some of the mundane weapons from the Bone Tree Company’s inventory.

Edna wouldn’t use the floating auxiliary AWs. Only using the ones that she directly held in her hands. Elena wouldn’t be holding anything back, but she was the kind of ridiculous character that made their bread and butter by continually topping themselves.

Thus it would be meaningless for her to hold back. Besides Billy hadn’t gotten a chance to build something ‘special’ for her yet. So it wasn’t like they had any magic tools or weapons that could withstand the toll her logic defying strength took on the world around her.

The Raid’s forces fought, smashing and shooting and casting their way through three horders of metal-haired direwolves. Fighting  through the empty halls and through the cramped stairways.

Fighting till they finally made it to the third floor, a place where the air was cold and there was a deadness to the way one’s mind interacted with the space.

Supervisor Arold found a pillar and slid himself down the length of it. Nakedly exhausted, just like the rest of them were. Just glad to be alive. Finally he stood and he pointed at the empty spaces of the floor. His voice echoing like it could very well repeat for an eternity. Going on long after both the man and his world had turned to dust.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Let me introduce you to Steel Polis Nihil. The metal city of twisted shadows. For the next three weeks, this will be your new home away from home.”