“I don’t want to be here. I hate it.” Mortimer whimpered behind Mila. “I hate it. I hate it. I hate it...”

The ground shook, and the pipes above their heads creaked. In the distance, a great battle began. The Sage had finally let the Military pass.

“Calm down.” Andrew tried to help Mortimer. “At least we don’t have to worry about that monster anymore.” He reasoned.

Mila glanced back at her friend, who noticed it and averted his eyes.

The monster had chased them, but mysteriously, it had suddenly turned and entered another pathway. How lucky.

Except Mila didn’t believe in luck. And she knew Andrew could influence the monster’s mind. Unfortunately, all the ambient mana made it very hard to sense any spells not aimed at her.

So, the question was, had he?

It was a slippery slope. Mila wondered if her friend realised the monster had been a person once. She hadn’t told him there was a path he could take towards influencing the minds of others. It was knowledge better left gathering dust.

Why was Andrew the problem child of her group? For the longest time, he had been the most reasonable. Now, there was one issue after another.

Why hadn’t Andrew said anything?

No… That was not fair. Mila had not asked either. Not until it had come to this. She really needed Isabel to solve this problem. She was much closer to Andrew.

The shaking of the ground intensified, stopping Mila from distracting herself from thinking about Isabel.

“They sure are going at it.” Helly whistled.

Virr grunted in agreement. “They are going to collapse the whole system on our heads.”

“Not with the spell reinforcing the dirt and stone.” Raran shook his head. The earth mage patted the wall. “This is not going to collapse.”

Despite the reassuring words and understanding they were true, Mila still felt great discomfort when the ground shook again. “I am fine.” She dismissed the help offered by Verte.

And while the vice-leader backed down, he waved Ugum to come closer. “See if she needs help,” Verte instructed before returning to Laura’s side.

“I am fine,” Mila repeated but didn’t push the healer away.

After a touch on Mila’s shoulder and a prod of mana, Ugum agreed. “You are. Just very, very exhausted.” He didn’t keep his voice down, letting the rest of the party know.

Mila sent Ugum a dirty stare. He had done the right thing, and the unrepentant expression showed he knew he had.

But it didn’t feel good to have her weakness pointed out so blatantly. Mila turned her head away and continued to rush forward.

From the sensation in the air, Mila knew they were getting close to one of the more important spots from where the ritual would be fed.

The mana grew thick and somewhat inert. It was slowly taking shape - to what end, Mila couldn’t tell. She would need to see the ritual circle to figure it out. Even if she couldn’t, Aaers could guide her somewhat.

As a large intersection came into view, the Messanger reminded them of his presence. “To the right is the path to the centre of this place.”

“We are not going there.” Laura brushed the words away.

“We have another target,” Mila grumbled at the same time, knowing they couldn’t go to where the strongest of enemies were.

“That’s our path.” Helly disagreed. “Come, Teeny.”

“That’s not my name.” Andrew shot back listlessly. “And we can’t. Even I know that’s stupid.” Mr Crow squawked on his shoulder in agreement.

“But that’s where Grandpa's stuff is,” Helly complained. “I don’t want someone from the Military to get it or worse - damage it.”

While everyone was sending the woman annoyed looks, asking why she hadn’t left already, Andrew started to reason with her. The wolf meanwhile moved so that Helly couldn’t suddenly change directions. Even the beast thought it was a stupid idea.

“It was just a momentary fancy.” Helly didn’t appreciate how everyone was treating her.

“Quiet.” Mila suddenly stopped whispers. “Agata? Viola?” She squinted. These parts weren't lit. “And you should do something useful as well.” She addressed the Messanger, who shrugged.

Mila hadn’t expected him to do anything, but it still annoyed her. “So?”

“There should be something ahead.” Viola guessed but didn’t sound sure. “It is hard to tell. It feels chaotic. And dense. I think there are a lot of people ahead.” She concluded.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Agata shook her head. “I can’t tell anything.” She had nothing.

With the mana growing turbulent, Mila knew the conclusion of the ritual was close. “Move.” She ordered and ran ahead. Her legs were sluggish, but they were almost done. She would soon be back to Isabel.

The ground never stopped shaking. The darkness around Mila screamed with distant animosity. She felt and heard the battlefield rage as the fighting intensified. With the dagger in her palm, Mila tried her best to parse through the pulsating, forming strings of mana.

These strings served as another guidance, letting Mila run ahead without hesitation on which path to take.

Despite her sluggish thoughts, Mila found time to inwardly curse the city, the nobles, the Sage, Andrew, the underground, the complicated situation, and most importantly - Oscar.

When the torchlight hit her eyes again, Mila slowed down. There was another barricade ahead. But this time, it was already half-torn down. Corpses were thrown about - silent witnesses of a fierce fight not long ago.

The broken weapons and similar attires of the dead told a grim tale. Both sides had wielded the same set of equipment.

“Mutiny.” Viola was the first to voice the obvious.

That it was. Mila looked at the woman nailed to the wall. She recalled seeing the old guard back at the station she had assaulted.

Back then, Mila had recognised just how strong the woman had been. Now, she was just a corpse. Three spears held the body up, leaving an unyielding impression of the old titan of an officer. The three killers lay dead before the woman’s feet. All of them had succumbed to their injuries.

It was hard to tell which side had rebelled. The fighters were all too similar to each other. Mila wondered which side had won. No, she already knew, and she was glad the woman was dead.

The closed metal doors signified the rebels had lost. And the woman had likely been the one to defeat them. The disdain was still clear on her dead face.

Mila was just glad they didn’t need to fight her. Then, something caught her eye. She scanned the surroundings, then stepped over the broken wall and neared the officer’s body.

There was a dagger in the dead woman’s hand. Mila ignored the quiet discussion behind her and reached out towards the weapon. Her fingers brushed against the cold metal, and she grabbed the blade between her fingers.

A new dagger was a timely addition to Mila’s arsenal. Only the dead officer didn’t let go of her last line of defence. Mila pulled harder. When it didn’t help, she used her other hand to pry the stiff fingers open.

For a moment, Mila feared the woman would come back to life, even if the thought was foolish. She finally yanked the dagger out of the cooling palm and measured it.

It was a good dagger. Best she has had since they left Silinth’s place. The balance was excellent, the decorations kept to a minimum, and the blade was clean and sharp. The woman hadn’t used it before her death. And now it was Mila’s.

“A good find?” Viola disturbed Mila from admiring the weapon.

“It is. At least it was a good distraction.” Mila admitted. The well-crafted weapon had kept her thoughts from running wild for a moment. “There are people behind the doors.” She then informed her group.

Mila’s senses had picked them up almost immediately. But from the looks of it, whoever was inside didn’t plan to come out.

From the mana in the air and the old ghost’s urging, Mila knew she had to move. “We must bring the doors down. Now.” She bit her cheek when she remembered how funny Isabel had looked when her girl had hammered the gates just a while ago. Mila wanted her girl back.

But they had to do with what they had. Laura, being the strongest of the bunch, grabbed a large metal beam. It was previously used as a centrepiece in the defensive wall. Now, it was a makeshift battering ram.

The mercenary group leader began ramming the metal doors. Once, then twice and so on, Laura rammed the metal against metal, raising terrible noise and bending the doors out of shape.

Mila used the moment to rest. Ugum rounded everyone present to see if anyone needed to be patched up.

When he stopped in front of her, he shook his head. “You need to rest.” He mouthed, then put his hand on Mila’s shoulder, sending a cooling sensation into her body.

“Not now.” Mila dismissed the man’s worries. She appreciated his sentiment and help. Her hearing was suffering in the confined space.

The roars, the battles, and now, Laura’s lockpicking action. All of it threatened the group to become deaf. Ugum’s tireless work kept them in fighting shape.

Another strike against the doors, and they flew open. From within, Mila heard calls for help. Desperate, hysteric and heartbreaking pleas for someone - anyone to help.

Next came attacks. Several bolts of mana flow from the interior of the room. A few arrows followed, but none of the attacks found their target.

Verte and Virr were the first ones to try and breach the entrance. The huge shield borrowed from Amy served as a portable wall as they tried to push in.

But they were repelled by a torrent of bolts and a single fireball that splashed against the shield. Mila watched as Verte tried again, with Agata shooting arrows over his head. Virr helped his superior as Laura joined them.

Mila expected the follow-up to be easy. With Laura joining the fight, they could finish the fighting quickly.

But apparently not. It was true that with Laura’s help, the group gained distance and pushed inside. There, however, they were ambushed by several defenders and pushed back out.

It was taking too long. Mila forced herself to move. While her body was suffering and lacking in endurance, there was still plenty of mana in her. The night had been spent gathering it from her many victims.

Mila took a deep breath and began to vanish from everyone's perception. She walked forward, keeping her senses sharp.

The bolts and the seldom arrow were problematic, but they were aimed at Laura now. The woman was unstoppable but was forced to defend more than attack. Even then, the mercenary group’s leader had hacked up three defenders already.

Mila stepped behind Verte and let Amy’s shield and the man cover her approach. Only now, she saw who they were fighting. They were haggard guards and a few officers. It was clear they had already fought before. The rebels had left many of them injured and desperate.

Then Mila’s eyes moved towards the deep end of the room. And what she saw made her let out a silent gasp.

There were more human sacrifices, yes. They were encouraging Mila’s group and asking for them to hurry up. A large press was slowly moving down to turn them into a paste. She needed to get them out now.

But that was not all. For the first time, Mila felt the ritual snap into place. The mana formed intangible, invisible runes all around them.

And Mila recognised parts of the ritual. It was the same the old ghost had shown her in the dream.