As Kita and Raya reach the second door to the second floor amongst the rattles of gunfire, they burst through the door into a waiting room.

At the other end of the small room is a large, booming, door that eclipses the entryway they'd just used. Villainous door- Kita called it. Definitely one of the best uses of coin. If she had an organization like this, the office door would be her first order of business.

She steps a little closer to the door and raises her arm in the air. Admiring the inscriptions on the door one last time before casting a push spell.

The doors completely shatter, and erupt from their hinges as they fly out towards the centre of the room. Raya raises her rifle and scouts ahead of Kita- It's empty. Not a single person was in the room.

Kita's eyes flare. The kid isn't here. "Where else would they take him?" She asks Raya.

"I'm not sure," She answers.

The footsteps of raiders from the floors below clang louder as they approach. It's decision time. And she needs to make it quick.

"Why do you even care about this kid?" Raya asks.

"I think he knows something about the dark one,"

It's likely. Not many people have had their souls taken by the dark one. She needs to learn everything she can. If pure strength and an army still resulted in her death in past lives, then she may have to approach this all very differently. She just needs a clue and this kid could give her one.

"We need to find out where they're taking him," Kita orders.

"So we fight?" Raya asks.

"Leave one for questioning,"

They both pass up at the far end of the room, facing the wide entryway in preparation for the ensuing raiders.

"How many souls?" Raya asks.

"Seven,"

"Keep the shield up," Raya orders, reloading her gun. "I'll handle them,"

Raya crouches beside Kita, aiming down her sights as Kita casts the spherical shield around the both of them. Kita's not so sure this will work, but Raya seems so certain, it would be well worth it if it does.

The clatter of boots keeps getting louder as the snaking sound draws nearer. It sounds like over a dozen people are on their way up here. This is overkill, is she really that much of a threat? From the raiders' point of view, it does make sense that they would want to kill her after finding all of their prisoners and many of their friends dead. Not to mention she stole their princess, who is seemingly a more high-value prisoner.

These bastards aren't ready for the havoc Kita's ready to ensue upon them. It's felt good, killing these bastards. Her body has no tension, it's totally calm and content with the situation, despite how sticky it is. They should've just let her go, and shut up about whoever the hell that Chevo guy is. Now when that bald prick comes back here he'll find everyone's dead. Burning the place down might be the icing on the cake. She'll see how she's feeling when the time comes.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Two raiders appear around the corner, raising their guns as they notice Kita and Raya. Without much delay, Raya fires two shots into the first raider's chest, and one more into the second's forehead. The raiders behind them start swarming into the room, but with each one that enters, Raya fires one or two bullets in quick succession. She'll run out of ammo soon, and these raiders keep on coming.

Kita puts a hand on Raya's shoulder, preparing to cast a spell. Awaiting the click of Raya's gun.

Six left. She'll be running out of souls soon. Kita needs to make a move that'll get both of them out of here. Staying here to question one of the assholes could put them in more danger than Kita is willing to expose herself to.

Click.

Kita drops her shield the moment the last bullet collides with the raider inside the room. That same instant she casts a spell using five of the remaining six souls.

Invisible. Her mind echoes.

A momentary ripple of the light in the room leaves her questioning whether it worked. The next set of guards step into the room with squinting eyebrows. Looking straight through Kita and Raya as they glance around the room.

Raya stands up, slowly strapping the gun over her shoulder with a similar look of confusion gleaming in her blue eyes. Kita keeps a firm grasp on Raya's shoulder as the two of them shuffle toward the door- in sync, and trying not to make a sound as more raiders step into the room.

Judging by the look on Raya's face, this is the first time she's seen this spell. It's high value, but also high cost. Not to mention the spell is easily wasted by making a noise or colliding with someone. As they reach the staircase, they glance downstairs to where a handful of raiders await instructions from the raiders already in the room.

Each of their footsteps has a focused effort of silence being applied as they slowly make their way up the stairs. They aren't being followed- not yet anyway. And the raiders below are still trying to figure out what's just happened. It's clear people of this world aren't familiar with magic. Did they even know it exists? Raya and the old lady are the only people who knew of Kita's magic, but that's because she's met them all before. Are there other people with magic? Why would Kita be the only one? Assuming she is would only put her at risk- Establishing complacency or narcissism. It's smarter to assume she isn't the only one.

As they reach the first floor, they open the stairwell door to step into a massive tent. One Kita doesn't remember seeing from the top of the canyon. It's on the ground since the dirt room with the occasional rug spits dust with each of their steps. Everything in the room looks like the old technology. Glass panels sit on every desk, each with a board of symbols before it. Weapons and small devices sit on all the tables scattered throughout the room… Could they have built this place? No- The raiders must have found this bunker, or whatever it is. No one has the resources or knowledge to pull this off. Especially not some gang of thieves.

"Follow me," Raya says to Kita, sprinting out of Kita's grasp. A shimmer of colour and light in the tent and they're no longer invisible. She runs after Raya, who is pacing towards the entrance of the tent. The warm glow of the setting sun on the horizon is the first thing she sees before Raya put her arm out, stopping Kita in her tracks. Her eyes adjust to the light when she realizes she's stood at a cliff's edge. A massive protrusion on the canyon wall creates an isolated bed where their tent sits above the bunker that expands down into the wall of the canyon.

"What is this?" Kita asks, confused by the sheer scale of architecture that must have been required to build in this manner.

"I'd guess it was built by the old humans," Raya responds.

"What for?"

Raya shrugs, "This may be where the raiders found their weapons. If I had to guess, I'd imagine it held strategic importance to its creators,"

Kita basks at the scale of the canyon as well. Looking to her right at the neverending corridor, then to her left- where the subtle glow of lights radiates from around the bend of the canyon. She walks towards the pathway on her left, a small walkway carved into the side of the canyon that leads toward a makeshift bridge.