Kali was impressed. She had managed to keep her stomachs content from escaping, but she wasn’t used to such violence. Abuse? Yes, but not pure brutality like this. Still, she was impressed by what higher leveled skills could actually do. It was one thing to hear about it and another to see it.

That big Karkaris had cleaved through the guards like they weren’t even there. It had to be a level twenty skill for sure, and judging from when he used it, he couldn’t use it that often. Probably one of his best skills if she had to guess.

It was a simple skill, all things considered, but powerful. She wouldn’t have been able to dodge or even block that blow. Of course she wasn’t a fighter, not really. Fine, her class did seem rather good at fighting, but she didn’t have any experience.

She had never seen adventurers in action, only heard stories and seen some movies when she was a kid. Like anyone, she knew that high level people could do incredible things, but that didn’t mean you got to see it everyday, or ever really. She had been a slave most of her life, and got to see cells, more cells and do menial tasks. And been abused. She shivered as she admitted that.

She tried to get her head out of that place by looking around. She was back where it had all started. The issue was that Kali dreaded what the other slaves would say. Blame her for the deaths? Call her the bringer of misery? She was afraid they would hate her for the failed attempt.

As they got in, the familiar hallway with all the different doors could be seen. The adventurers were asking Philip about how to open them. She barely heard them. She did notice one of the adventurers went back to the place where all the guards were laying in their own blood and brought back a mana-card.

Apparently that didn’t work. They really had locked the slaves down. So they did like last time. Kali helped them take out some tools and started making holes in the doors, again. The poor doors had seen better days as the quick fixes and welding were clear to everyone.

Kali always moved on to the next door before the hole could be opened. She still dreaded what the others would say when they saw her, but helping them was important to her and she did want to be a part of this.

She was working on the second door when she heard voices of slaves getting out. She simply continued to help make a hole in the next door and moved on to the next before they could open it fully. Still, she couldn’t help but overhear tidbits behind her.

These doors had been locked so safely they hadn’t known about the mana-outage, only that the lights had gone off, and their chips were acting up, the few of them that had them. A small blessing then, as they would have all died otherwise.

Apparently the air had been getting harder to breath towards the end, so the rooms were completely airtight with air-replenishers instead of a ventilation system, which made sense. It was less prone to escapes that way.

Slowly they opened door after door, and soon the main hallway was filled up with freed slaves. Some looked surprised, some ‘were getting used to this’ or joked about it at least. Which was a good sign that they still had morale after everything that had happened.

As the final door was opened and the last slaves freed, Kali moved behind Krovukk discreetly, not wanting everyone to see her. She would say hi, of course, but later. Now was not the time as the adventurer’s captain spoke up to the assembled slaves.

“Hello everyone!” He started with a strong voice to get their attention. People turned to him and started to form a circle around him to listen. Or trying too as the hallways wasn’t the largest.

“I am the captain of Dust in Pieces, an adventuring team. We are here to free you of these chains.” He said as he held up a slave chip that had been removed. There was some rapid whispering that started at that.

“Moreover, we are looking for our sister Erika that was taken aboard this ship as a slave. If anyone knows about her, please let us know.” He added. Not the smoothest, but it was their primary reason, and some of the slaves actually relaxed at that statement. She knew she would have been suspicious if adventurers suddenly arrived to save them out of nowhere, now at least they knew the reason they were here which made them less suspicious.

Kali had almost jumped at the name. The captain waited for anyone to speak up. She hadn’t known any slave with that name, but she did know a person that fit the bill. She had even said she had gotten on at Trupen station, which was recently. But that couldn’t be the same person could it?

Taking a look at the blond man, she started seeing similarities. Well, both were blond, she didn’t have blue eyes like the captain, but there was something in the shape of the face that had been familiar. The eyebrows or other details that did make her feel like it might be possible.

“Umm.” She started, and people turned to her as she moved out of Krovukk’s shadow. The audience exclaimed at seeing her.

“Kali! You are alive! We feared the worst when they took you away.” It was Merik that had spoken up. And her heart fell as she took them all in. She had failed them all, but the worst was that they looked at her, happy, glad, relieved.

She hated it, didn’t feel like she deserved any of it. It was her fault that the others had died. Her fault so many had been wounded, changed forever as they would never waste potions on slaves stumb arms or legs.

“Aren’t you angry at me?” She couldn’t help but ask. Merik was surprised at first, then his gaze softened.

“You blame yourself? Silly girl, we all followed you willingly. We knew the risks. Some followed even if they didn’t believe we would make it, if only for the gesture of it. To tell them all, with a defiant roar that we were free, if only for a moment.” He said with a knowing smile. She couldn’t help but smile a bit at the way he had said it.

It sounded so much more grandiose that way than it was in reality. But in a way she completely understood where he was coming from. The truth was that she felt guilty that she had managed to keep her freedom and they hadn’t. That was the real thing that gnawed at her.

She knew it wasn’t truly her fault that the others had died. They could have given up and saved their lives, like many others did. No, she had survivor's guilt, or in this case, the fact that she had gotten out and not them, it felt so unfair in a way. It made her feel like she didn’t deserve to be free if she was the only one. Because then wasn’t it all really unfair? Why did she get to be free while they continued to suffer?

But they didn’t know that. They only knew that she had gotten captured again too, only never to appear back in the cells with them, while she had walked around on the ship and even made friends, kind of.

Wait, she was getting completely sidetracked by the reunion. Hadn’t the captain said that they were looking for Erika? That was why she had spoken up in the first place. Now everyone seemed to have forgotten about it.

“Does any one of you know an Erika by any chance?” She asked the large gathering in front of her. She could feel the adventurers eyeing her with curiosity now, probably guessing why she had wanted to free the slaves in the first place.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Most shook their heads in the negatives, looking at each other to see if they knew someone by that name. So she breathed in deep and turned to the captain and his brother. The captain raised an eyebrow at her, clearly preparing herself to say something.

“I think I know where your sister is, and she never became a slave in the first place.” She said to the two. Their hopes flared up as she started describing her just to make sure they were talking about the same person.

“She doesn’t have blue eyes like you, but she has this fierce look, something a bit like Levy here. She likes to gamble right? What else, she is slightly taller than me and her laugh is weird.” The two brothers laughed at the last part and nodded.

“Yeah that’s our sister. Do you know where she is now?” It was Levy that asked.

“Well, not right now, but I know where her quarters are actually. But she probably isn’t there, with everything that happened. She is probably with Lika or something. But she is definitely not here.” She said as she gestured to the large group of people milling about and catching up. Most still had blood on their tattered clothes since their last escape.

“Look, I understand you want to go find her right now, but I can’t just leave everyone here.” She said. Levy nodded at that and seemed to think about it a bit.

“What if we just go to the hangar, get them on a ship, while you and two of us follow you to find our sister while we make them board and everything? Do you think it could work?” He asked, unsure of his plan.

She thought about it, but that meant leaving them with Philip. Kali simply wasn’t sure he wouldn’t pull a fast one on them. But with two adventurers, there was a low chance he would try something, right? Maybe he should go with them.

“That could work, but I think Philip should come with us then.” She told Levy.

“So, you guys want to split up right now? I’m sorry but I don’t think that’s a great idea.” The small ratman said. The huge Karkaris was with him and was clearly frowning.

“Well, what do you suggest Xar? She is right, we can’t just leave them here now can we?” Levy gestured to the slaves around them. To her surprise, it was Merik who once again spoke up, she hadn’t remembered him taking on being the leader ever before.

“You have already done enough. I think we can manage. We are enough to make most people run for it, meaning we can probably get to the hangar by ourselves right now.” He said as he looked back fondly on his friends.

“Are you sure Merik? I mean, I have to go with them, I can’t come with you this time. I’m the only one who knows Erika. And it’s even more dangerous now than last time.” She regretted adding that last part, but they had to know.

“What do you mean more dangerous?” Merik asked, still looking confident.

“The [Admiral] of Birds of Prey is on board. If you stumble upon him, you guys are all done for.” She said, and Xar muttered something about that being the case for them too.

“Well, we’ll still take our chance. You know it got worse after last time… I think more are resolved to give it their all. Very few of us want to go back. You of all people should understand the addictive nature of freedom.” He said with a knowing smile which she mirrored.

Of yes she knew. In their shoes, she wouldn’t hesitate, nevermind the risks. Never again, she had vowed to herself, and she could see that resolve in some of their eyes. Not everyone was ready to lay their lives down, but still, they had steeled their resolve considerably since last time. That much was clear.

“Good luck then. If everything goes well, we’ll join you in the hangar soon enough, and all leave together.” She said with a smile. She didn’t like to lie like that. Both knew that it was highly unlikely to go that well. It was a strange mix of pessimism and hope, to think nothing would go well, but still try anyway.

Merik simply smiled and nodded. Some people were already picking up the weapons they could find on the dead guards, passing them along. It wouldn’t be enough, but it was better than nothing.

The adventurer’s and Philip all grouped up again and they soon moved out, not saying any last goodbyes, maybe in the hopes that it would make it just slightly more likely they would see each other again.

They moved silently through the hallways, their boots and equipment dangled and made sounds of course, they weren’t sneaking around, but they seemed to be very aware of the looming threat that the [Admiral] was.

She was about to turn left, but the captain dragged her back and they all turned right. It wasn’t the right way, but he quickly explained himself.

“My [Dangersense] just went off when we turned left.” Was all that he said. The others seemed to trust him. It was a classic skill shared by a lot of classes. One of the most useful ones apparently.

“And is it still going off now?” Philip asked behind her.

“Yes, it’s a bit softer, but he must still be close. It could be a good idea to make a run for it.” He said but looked unconvinced himself it would make a real difference. So they continued jogging along.

Krovukk picked up the kid, Matt if she remembered correctly, under his arm as he was having a hard time keeping up. The kid looked both relieved and annoyed at getting the help and needing it in the first place.

They were close to the cafeteria where she had last seen Erika and Lika, but the ship felt almost suffocating now. It had crawled up on her, so slowly she hadn’t been sure she was imagining it at first. But now? It was getting harder to breathe.

There was a strange kind of pressure, and it looked like the others felt it too. Philip and the kid were the only ones who seemed as affected as her as the four others seemed somehow able to shrug it off.

“Aura, and it’s close.” Was all the captain said.

“That’s what it feels like and he isn’t even in front of us?” It was Levy that said that part.

“Mhmm.” Xar simply added.

It seemed they were all thinking the same thing.

“If he finds us, you get us an emergency exit open Xar, got it? You have carte blanche on this one.” Xar smiled wickedly at that, but it was the kid that asked between heavy breath.

“What’s carte blanche?” He didn’t seem to know the expression.

“It means he has permission to go wild.” Krovukk said with a grin. The kid didn’t respond but made an o face, understanding that shit was about to hit the fan.

Kali? She didn’t know what Xar’s speciality was, she had only seen him blow up some guards earlier. Maybe that gave her an inkling of what his speciality was, but she couldn’t be sure. Nor know the extent of his love of explosions.

As they turned another corner, the group all came to an abrupt stop. At the far, far end of the long straight hallway, they spotted a group that made them all instinctively stop in their tracks.

It wasn’t the way the black and green uniforms were perfectly fitting, or the precision with which they moved as a group. It wasn’t even the towering giant that could be seen at the back of the group that made them stop.

No, they could feel a powerful aura telling them in no uncertain way, move and you will die. It was like an order, hard to shake as it permeated their brains. The adventurers all took half a second to shake it off and turned around to run, pulling the others out of the compulsion.

Kali started running for real, trying to remember how to get to the cafeteria from here as they had turned some corners she hadn’t actually taken before. She couldn’t help but look behind her, only to see the black and green men jogging towards them lightly, only to actually gain on them.

They wouldn’t be able to run away at all at this rate. Her heart started pounding as they got closer and closer, they turned one corner, then another, and everytime she looked behind, they were closer than the last time. It felt exactly like a nightmare.

“Don’t look back so much, Xar will cover our retreat, and if they have another group to stop us, he’ll make an emergency exit.” It was the Karkaris deep and rumbling voice that took her back to the present and out of the nightmare.

Yeah, she wasn’t alone, and they were adventurers. Decent ones apparently. She could only hope they were good enough to escape. It was clear they all knew a fight head on would only end one way.

The only silver lining was that if the [Admiral] was here, then the slaves actually had a chance of escaping. It made her smile then that maybe things would be righted somewhat.

Life truly wasn’t fair was it? With a monster like the [Admiral] behind her, she truly felt like an ant before a giant. The aura kept making it harder and harder to push herself, despite the adrenaline pumping in her veins.

Getting suddenly angry at being shackled down like this, she used her skill [Break Chains] on instincts and the whole group sighed in relief as the oppressive aura completely disappeared around them.

Philip looked at her with a surprised expression.

“That was you, wasn’t it?” He simply said, and the others looked at her from the corner of their eyes as she nodded.

Behind them, behind the black and green troops, the [Admiral] brows furrowed. It had been a long time since anyone had broken that skill of his.

Maybe he had to get serious after all.