“You said you’d leave him if it happened again, so it should be okay if we move on,” Cili said.

“I meant leaving him in the sewers or an alley, not the home of the person who tried to kill us!” Riven explained.

“I’ll carry him,” Halvor offered.

Draxl rolled his eyes with annoyance. “Forever? Just gonna lug around dead weight even if it slows us down?”

“Yes. I will.”

“And a person isn’t dead weight,” Galina added, mirroring the indignation in Halvor’s voice.

“Fine. Do what you want,” Draxl said, throwing his hands in the air. “So long as we’re stuck up here it doesn’t matter.”

Ace could tell he was only catching the tail end of the conversation. “Sorry, who are we talking about?” he asked, pushing himself up to his feet.

The others breathed a big sigh of relief seeing Ace awaken.

“You, but thankfully, we seem to be past that now,” Galina said.

Ace’s eyes blinked open. His other senses had fully returned, so he was confused as to why the world still appeared so blurry.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” Cili asked.

Her sudden concern made Ace examine himself; it was only after he did that he felt tears uncontrollably streaming down his face.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, I’m fine,” Ace insisted, hurriedly rubbing the tears from his eyes. As the world cleared, the first thing that Ace noticed was a chunk of text.

[ Pact Formed! ]

[ Active Pacts: 1/2. ]

“More importantly, I think I can get us down.”

“How?” Halvor asked..

“Show don’t tell,” Ace replied with a slight smirk.

“The fuck does that mean?” Riven asked.

Ace marched over to the balustrade that overlooked the garden—completely ignoring Riven. For a brief moment, Ace stared at the bloody rope in his hands, before tossing it over the edge.

As it cascaded through the air, the rope, on its own, started to unravel itself until it stretched from the top of the balustrade down to the first floor. The rope crackled as it went taught and suspended itself mid-air.

“How’d you do that?” Galina asked.

“Just asked a friend for help.”.

“Again, what the fuck does that mean?” Riven asked.

Without hesitation, Ace grasped the rope and began descending—ignoring Riven again. After a brief exchange of confused looks, it was Halvor, who went next. He was shortly followed by Cili, then Galina, and lastly Riven. Draxl climbed down only after everyone had already made it to the bottom—and he was sure it was safe.

Once everyone had feet on the ground, Ace extended his arm out to the rope. Like a snake, it slithered up his arm, and looped itself around his shoulder, before going slack.

The group snuck through to the heart of the garden, keeping their heads low—beneath the flora—to avoid being seen.

“Hey,” Cili said, poking Ace’s back.

“Yeah.”

“What’s your friend’s name?” Cili asked.

“Kegan,” Ace answered.

Cili leaned into the rope. “Thank you, Kegan,” she whispered.

Upon arriving at the center of the garden, Galina extended her hand out to Riven. “Mind if I do the honors. In case it's trapped.”

Riven threw Galina the key. Galina raised her hand, freezing the key in mid-air. The group all took a step back from the hatch, as Galina unlocked the hatch from a distance.

The hatch creaked open to reveal a withered stone staircase that descended into darkness.

“Here you are,” Galina said, removing the key from the hatch, and handing it back to Riven.

“Got any more torches?” Riven asked Ace.

“One sec.” After a brief bit of searching, Ace pulled a torch from his satchel.

“[Ignite],” Riven said, lighting the torch.

The group piled into the staircase. Galina shut the hatch behind them.

“Draxl,” Riven said, roughly a minute into the group’s descent.

“Yes?”.

“Have you ever considered a career in architecture?” Riven asked.

“No, but I’ll consider it now.” Draxl paused for a few seconds. “Alright, I’ve reached a conclusion.”

“The verdict?”

“I’ll pass.”

“And like that, the ability to recognize hidden underground basements, a talent only seen once every few decades in the architectural world, has gone to waste,” Riven lamented sarcastically.

“Gone to waste saving your lives,” Draxl remarked.

“What do you mean your lives?!” Riven asked. “Don’t act like you’re not as screwed as the rest of us.”

“Unlike the rest of you, I could’ve done this on my own,” Draxl said.

“That’s a lie.”

“Yeah, probably,” Draxl admitted, “but we’ll never know for sure.”

“We can find out right now,” Riven said.

“Okay,” Ace interjected, “now might not be the best time to bicker, because, quick reminder, we are all still as good as dead.”

“But we’re not dead yet!” Cili exclaimed.

“And isn’t that what really matters?” Galina added

“At least some of us can look on the bright side,” Halvor said.

Draxl stopped dead in his tracks. “And thankfully one of us can look down too.” Draxl squatted down and inspected the floor. As the group looked closer they could see Draxl was examining a thin wire that had been strung horizontally across the stairway a few feet above the steps.

“I saw that too,” Riven said.

“No you didn’t,” Galina responded.

“Definitely not,” Ace affirmed.

“Yeah, I have a hard time believing that,” Halvor said.

“Okay, one person calling me out is fair, but three people is just unnecessary.”.

Cili knelt next to Draxl. “Is this a tripwire?”

“Seems like it.”.

“Wow!” Cili exclaimed. “I’ve never seen one before. Is it true that they can make a big explosion, or drop a giant boulder?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Depends on the tripwire, but in theory, yeah. Though I have a pretty good idea what this one does.”

“You do?” Cili asked excitedly.

Draxl unsheathed one of his daggers. “Only one way to find out.”

Cili held her breath as Draxl raised the dagger to the wire. The moment the wire was cut a twang echoed through the stairway. Racing out from the darkness below a crossbow bolt flew directly towards the group.

Draxl raised his hand to catch the bolt, but as he tightened his fist he felt nothing in his grasp. He glanced up to see the bolt firmly in Cili’s hand—which was a few inches in front of his own.

“Nice catch,” Draxl said.

“How’d you know it was gonna do that?” Cili asked.

“Yeah, I’d like to know why you were so confident sending a crossbow bolt straight at my head?” Ace demanded.

Draxl pointed towards the steps behind the group. “All the steps we came down on were chipped. The risers especially have clear knicks in them. The tripwire is all the way up here, but there’s no trap in sight, meaning it has to be further down and come up to us.

“Given the fact that Ronan had an infuser update his old connectors, there probably weren’t any artifacts involved, leaving the most likely option a primed crossbow.”

“Then why is she holding the bolt?” Ace asked, gesturing to Cili.

“She’s got better reflexes,” Draxl answered matter-of-factly.

“Um, if there are going to be more of those, do you mind if I take the lead?” Halvor asked. “I don’t have good enough eyes to spot them, but if something goes wrong, I can probably endure it the best out of anyone here.”

“Good point,” Draxl said. “Lead the way.”

Several more mundane traps attempted to impede the group's descent. Bolts flying from the darkness, spears springing out of the walls, spikes waiting at the bottom of a hidden pit, all shattered on Halvor’s stone skin. At a certain point, Draxl stopped explaining the traps, instead just telling Halvor to brace himself whenever they encountered one.

“Wait,” Cili said. At this point, the group was nearing the end of the staircase. Halvor had shrugged off all the traps they encountered, so everyone wondered what could merit stopping. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Ace asked.

“Listen!” Cili exclaimed.

“Not helpful,” Riven said.

Draxl closed his eyes and focused on the sounds echoing in the chamber. “I hear it now.”

“What is it?” Halvor asked.

“Footsteps.” Galina pointed further down the staircase into the darkness.

Emerging from the shadows was a boy with spiky red hair wearing baggy pants, a tight-fit jacket, and fingerless gloves, all charcoal gray in color. On his back was a large travel pack with numerous other small satchels dangling from it. Goggles obscured the boy’s eyes and a mask with two valves protruding from it covered the entire bottom half of his face. Hanging from his neck was a simple golden locket; the two ends where the chain connected had been melted and fused, making it impossible to remove without shattering it.

What instantly drew the group’s attention was what the boy had in his hands: a rifle, one that had been heavily modified. As he stepped into the torchlight, the boy kept the barrel of the rifle fixated on the group. Quickly looking him over for any other weapons, Ace managed to spot a revolver on his hip.

The boy didn’t seem hostile, only cautious; everyone thought it better not to make a rash decision. The boy looked over the group but suddenly stopped.

“Yo. Draxl?”

“Kai?”

Kai instantly lowered his rifle.

“You two know each other?” Galina asked, turning her head to Draxl.

“We’re friends,” Kai said.

“More like former acquaintances.”

“We’re definitely friends.”

“I’m surprised you have friends, Draxl. You didn't seem the type,” Riven said.

“He isn’t.” Kai pulled down his jacket collar to reveal the mark of a golden chain around his neck. “I’m assuming we’re all in the same boat.”

“And it’s sinking at an alarming rate,” Galina said. “Do you have anything to keep us afloat?”

“Kinda. Let me show you.” Kai led the group further down to the end of the staircase. Before they reached the end Kai signaled for the group to stop. “It’s probably not safe further down than this.”

“Why?” Ace asked.

“Take a look.”

The staircase opened up into a small chamber. The only furniture was a desk with a small bookshelf on top, and a basic wooden chair. On the desk was a smattering of papers, much more organized than the ones from Ronan’s office.

Permeating the entire chamber was a heavy noxious green gas. On the chamber's rocky floor lay two unconscious guards.

“My entrance wasn’t very subtle, so I ended up having some company,” Kai explained. “The gas will keep them knocked out for a few hours until it clears out.”

“What kind of skill is that?” Riven asked.

“It’s not a skill. It’s science.”

“Science or skill, doesn’t matter if we can’t get down there ourselves,” Draxl said.

“Right, so the plan was, that I knock them out, then use this to avoid knocking myself out.” Kai held up his mask. “Unfortunately, it got damaged when the Armistice Order took all our shit, so now we’re kinda stuck.”

“Wait, so all we need to do is get rid of that gas?” Cili asked.

“Basically,” Kai responded.

“Oh, that’s easy.” Cili skipped over to the final few steps at the edge of the gas cloud. “No matter the place, I am followed by, [Wind’s Grace].”

As Cili finished her chant, a burst of wind erupted in the center of the chamber. Even several stairs up the group could feel the wind as it tore through the space. After a few seconds, the wind settled down, and the gas had been completely dispersed.

“You can manage a 2 line chant with spells?” Riven asked Cili..

“Only with fire-based and wind-based ones,” Cili said.

“Guess being part dragon has its perks.”

“Nice work!” Kai exclaimed, extending his open hand out to Cili. The two exchanged a high-five as the rest of the group piled into the chamber.

Halvor knelt to one of the guards and gently poked them to see if they were awake; he was concerned since the wind hadn’t awoken them. Removing one of their gauntlets, Halvor placed his fingers on the guard’s wrist to confirm they had a pulse.

He got up to check on the other guard but noticed that Galina had already kneeled beside them. The two exchanged a glance.

“This one’s good.”

“This one too.”

Meanwhile, Cili investigated the room for anything that looked strange. Draxl, Riven, and Ace all helped to sort through the mess of papers that littered the chamber floor.

Kai was focused on a book that had caught his attention; he noticed it was the only one out on the desk when he entered the chamber, even though the shelf was already full. Looking inside it appeared like just a jumble of random letters so Kai instantly assumed it was some kind of cipher.

“Didn’t you say you were shifting every letter 7 places in the alphabet?” Draxl asked Kai, peeking over his shoulder to examine his work.

“Yeah, since it’s the seventh edition,” Kai explained.

“Then why is the J turning into a D instead of a C?” Draxl asked.

“Fuuuuuuuuck! I’ve been shifting over six, not seven.”

“Do you need any help?” Draxl asked.

“No, no. I’ve got it. I’ve got it. Thanks.”

“Good, because I wasn’t going to help anyway.”

A few minutes went by with not a sound aside from the ruffling of papers. A frantic search for the next lead kept everyone busy, though the lack of progress made it difficult to justify staying in the chamber any longer.

“Got it!” Kai exclaimed.

The rest of the group hurried over.

As they all arrived Kai gestured to the book and a sheet of paper beside it where he had been writing the decoded version. “So, turns out when you’re not a fucking idiot, and actually use the right key, this line ‘JVBSK NYLHA TLU AOBUKLY’ becomes ‘COULD GREAT MEN THUNDER’.”

“Good work,” Halvor said. “What does it mean?”

“I have no idea,” Kai admitted.

“Maybe it’s a reference to something?” Galina theorized.

“Oh, I noticed that the books on the shelf didn’t move even when the wind was blowing,” Cili said.

“Maybe you pick the right book, and a hidden passage opens up,” Draxl said.

“And if we pick the wrong book?” Riven asked.

“How about we don’t do that,” Draxl suggested.

“Wait, a second,” Ace said. “‘Could great men thunder’ I know that line.” He hurried over to the bookshelf. He quickly combed through each book till he found one titled Measure for Measure. “We had this one back home, but it was a lot more beat up than this one. I think it was an older edition or something. The person who owned it told me it was older than Fable itself.”

“What kind of book is it?” Kai asked.

“It’s not even a book, it’s a play,” Ace said.

“Is it any good?” Riven asked.

“No clue. When I said beat up I meant the whole cover was destroyed and most of the text was either gone or illegible. Only know the name because the owner told me it. Never even read it before.”

“Then how do you know that line is in it?” Cili asked.

“One day I tried to steal the book. I wanted to know what was inside,” Ace said. “I got caught, but the woman who owned it was kind enough to tell me what little she remembered. This line was the start of her favorite scene.”

“Well you might as well go for it,” Draxl said. “We don’t have a whole lot of options left.”

“Do you want me to do it?” Halvor asked.

“Nah, I’m confident,” Ace said.

Ace pulled the book off the shelf. As he did, it leaned back and locked in place with a satisfying click. The whole shelf shifted from one end of the table to the other, revealing a secret compartment carved into the stone wall; residing inside, was a key, with intricate carvings running throughout, glistening like rivers of gold

Immediately Ace reached for the key, but just as his fingers touched it, his whole body froze. Echoing from the staircase, rapidly approaching the chamber, was a sound familiar to everyone present.

In the open space where they had heard it before, the clanging of heavy golden chains on impenetrable armor managed to sound rhythmic, almost comforting. However, as the rattling of the chains synchronized with its own echo, it enveloped the entire space, growing louder and louder. It felt inescapable.

The whole group turned to face Paladin Galland as he entered the chamber. “Sorry, but that doesn’t belong to you.”