"Are we sure that no one will be here at this time of night?" Reyna questioned as she crouched down on the roof of the building that they were on. Her gaze focused on the larger building in front of them. It was an absolutely massive, circular construct that lifted at one point and sloped down at the other.
Mortals called it the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It was built around the place where the old library of Alexandria rested. Mortals seemed to want to restore the glory of the old library, but a lot of texts were lost when the library was first burned. Some of it had been saved by the wolf clan, but Reyna wondered how much information had been lost and saved.
"They close down the library at night," Aquitaine answered as she stood next to Reyna. Without her faceplate, Reyna could see the bruises that were on Aquitaine's face. "This is the rebuilt version of the library, made on the corpse of the old one. The vault is below ground."
"I sense others here," Arcadia muttered as she started to pace. Reyna slowly looked at the members of her legion. All of them wore their armor and were ready for anything that came their way. Reyna slowly grabbed her faceplate and put it on. She looked at Avaris.
Reyna did not remember a time that she saw the doctor wearing a full set of armor. The most she had ever worn was a breastplate and maybe gauntlets as well. Now, Avaris wore the same armor as the rest of the legion. Her faceplate was tinted white and gold. A backpack that she held onto was mostly empty but had some medical supplies.
"Bristol, you and I will move in first. Arcadia, stay here with Aquitaine and Avaris. If I rub my dagger, it will be a call for help. Get Avaris out of here before coming for us. If all is clear, one of us will come to get you," Reyna said.
"Understood, imperator," Arcadia said. Reyna walked towards the edge of the roof. Bristol tossed a ladder over the building and anchored it to the roof. Arcadia held onto it to make sure it was secure. Bristol swung himself over the ladder and climbed down. Reyna followed behind him. As the two made it to the ground, they both slowly moved forward.
Reyna looked around and didn't see anyone. It wasn't until they were closer to the front door that Reyna heard a grinding noise. She looked around. Bristol looked down. Reyna looked around for anyone, and upon not seeing anyone, she looked down as well.
"Below us," Bristol whispered. He looked around and pointed. Reyna followed the movement and saw some kind of grating. It was slightly tilted upwards as if someone hadn't put it back in place properly. Reyna took a step forward, but she saw the grating move.
Reyna darted behind a wall, and Bristol did as well. It took a moment for Reyna to carefully peek out. She watched the grating move, and someone pulled themselves out onto the street. Seva stood and looked around. Two large men followed behind her.
Bristol made eye contact with Reyna and moved a hand to his sword. Reyna shook her head slightly and focused on Seva. The woman spoke, "Stand guard at the entrance until you smell smoke and have confirmed the men inside are burning this place down. I'm tired of having my past hang over me."
"Of course, ma'am," one of the men said as he bowed. Seva looked at him.
"Any news about the whereabouts of Aquitaine?" Seva questioned. She paced back and forth looking agitated. Reyna heard the flapping of wings and glanced up. She pressed herself against the wall as a Pegasus landed. Another man was riding it. He dismounted and handed the reins off to Seva.
"No ma'am. We believe she is back with the Sixth Legion," the second man answered.
"Find her. I want her dead," Seva ordered. She mounted the Pegasus, and it took off. Reyna watched the two men move back to the grate, but the third man stood guard. The two men climbed down. Reyna looked at Bristol.
"Take him out. I'll get the others," Reyna whispered. Bristol nodded. Reyna made sure the man wasn't looking at them, and she turned back the way they came, darting as fast as she could. Reyna climbed up the ladder with as much speed as she could muster. When she made it to the top, Arcadia helped her up.
"They're going to burn the library. We need to move," Reyna said. Arcadia nodded and helped secure the ladder. Avaris carefully climbed down it, and Aquitaine followed behind. Reyna was the last to climb down the ladder, and Arcadia jumped from the roof, landing softly near them. "Show off."
A smirk came to Arcadia's face. As they made it to the grate, Bristol was dragging the man's body away. The man was limp, and his neck was at an awkward angle. Reyna looked away and focused on the grate. She knelt by it and moved it back to the side.
Reyna carefully dropped down the grate. Her feet hit water, and it went up to her ankles. The tunnel they were in was quite narrow, only allowing them to walk single file. The water smelled foul, and there were fading lights built into the brick walls.
"This used to be an open area," Aquitaine whispered softly as she landed near Reyna. The rest of the Sixth Legion followed behind. Reyna nodded and slowly made her way forward.
"Do we know how many men they have?" Arcadia asked softly. Reyna shook her head. "Avaris, stay near me."
"I will, "Avaris promised. Reyna held her hand up for silence. The talking ceased immediately, and Reyna continued to make her way forward. Without warning, the tunnel gave way to a large cavern. It took rapid blinking for her eyes to adjust to the new light, and she looked at the ladder above her.
"Aquitaine, do we climb the ladder?" Reyna asked as quietly as she could.
"Yes," Aquitaine whispered as she moved to Reyna's side.
"Why?" Reyna whispered back.
"The wolf clan would guard this place with their lives. It was easier to defend two places where enemies could be funneled through The tunnel and the ladder," Aquitaine explained in a whisper. Reyna nodded and carefully grabbed onto the ladder. She looked around and tried to see above her, but the lights didn't illuminate the top of the ladder.
"Imperator, let me go first," Bristol said quietly. Reyna shook her head.
"It might be dangerous," Reyna whispered. A hand grabbed her shoulder. Reyna slowly looked at Arcadia.
"Then, let me go," Arcadia stated. Reyna hesitated. "I am a goddess, imperator. You do not have to do everything yourself."
Reyna finally nodded and let go of the ladder. Arcadia climbed it swiftly. By the time she made it to the top, Reyna could barely see her. She heard the sound of something metal and heavy being dragged. Her hand moved to her sword.
Reyna heard a sudden yell, and a body flew into her vision. An armored figure crashed into the ground, and Aquitaine stabbed them in the throat. Aquitaine spoke, "These are my sister's personal guards. She must be pulling out all the stops."
"Personal guards?" Reyna asked as she heard another cry of pain. Another man landed on top of his friend, and Reyna winced at the disgusting sound of a neck cracking. Aquitaine still stabbed him in the neck.
"Every member of the Council has a group of elite guards. Seva had the best," Aquitaine answered. She studied the faces of the men. "These two look new."
"It is possible the others defected. Or, are they just at her base?" Bristol questioned. Aquitaine shrugged.
"It's safe," Arcadia called. Reyna climbed the ladder first, and as she pulled her up, she stared at the wall in front of her. The wall was ten feet long and wide. There were all kinds of symbols, hieroglyphics maybe, carved into the wall.
"Seva told her men to make sure the men inside burned this place. What happens to the one still in the vault?" Reyna asked. She watched the other members of the legion pull themselves up the ladder. "Aquitaine?"
"I believe they were going to burn alive. By their own choice or being tricked, I do not know," Aquitaine answered. She grabbed her knife and cut into her hand. As blood trickled from her hand, she placed it to the bottom of the wall. Aquitaine pressed her hand against the wall and slowly dragged her hand up. When her hand was above her head, she dragged it to the right and then down.
As Aquitaine finished, the entire wall seemed to glow. The wall below Aquitaine's blood started to slide down. Without a word, Avaris grabbed Aquitaine's hand and poured unicorn powder on it. As the wall finished sliding down, the breath left Reyna.
Reyna stared at the shelves in front of them. The shelves were twice her height and about twenty feet long. Books and parchments covered every single shelf. Reyna heard laughing in the distance. She turned to the others and spoke, "Take the barbarians out first."
Reyna unsheathed her sword and slowly walked towards the source of the laughter. Aquitaine and Bristol moved to the right. Avaris moved to the left, and after a look from Reyna, Arcadia followed behind the doctor. The only sound Reyna heard was her heart beating in her chest, and as she made it closer to the laughing, she hid behind a shelf.
"You think they would have some fucking good shit in here," a man said. He was extremely tall and wearing nothing. A shield rested on his back as did a sword. From Reyna's limited knowledge of the barbarians clans, he was from a clan of savages.
"When the fuck is Seva coming back?" another man asked. He wore a full set of armor and was playing with matches. A third man had gasoline containers next to him. They were all from different clans, so Seva must have forced them all to work together.
"Who gives a shit?" the third asked. He lifted one of the gasoline containers. "Can we please just start burning shit down?"
Reyna heard a yell from her right. The three men tensed and turned. Reyna grabbed the rod from her belt and flipped it into a javelin. She threw it directly at the man that wasn't wearing anything. It tore into his heart, and he stumbled backward before collapsing.
Reyna darted out from behind the shelf and stabbed the man with the matches in his back. She shoved him off of the sword and turned towards the man with the gasoline.
"A Sixth Legion bitch," the man sneered. He threw the open canister of gasoline on the ground and backed away. His hand grabbed matches from his pocket. As he started to light one, Reyna threw her knife into his neck. He gasped and fell, dropping the match. Reyna stomped on it to make sure it didn't light.
A war cry sounded directly behind Reyna. She turned and grabbed the brass knuckles from her pocket. As she pressed the button on them and watched it turn into a shield, she blocked the blow. Reyna grabbed her sword from a corpse and tore it out, using the momentum to stab the man in his gut.
Reyna pulled her sword out and shoved the man away. She stared down at his corpse. Then, her eyes moved to the rest of the corpses. Reyna turned towards the screaming to her right. As she closed in on the screaming, she saw several barbarian corpses.
"That's six to me," Bristol commented. He turned towards Aquitaine. "Towards your... shit. Seven?"
"Seven," Aquitaine confirmed. Her eyes moved to the side. "Imperator."
"Do you see any more guards?" Reyna asked.
"No. They are a mixture of different clans," Aquitaine answered. Reyna nodded and turned back the way she came. She moved to the left side of the library, looking for Arcadia and Aquitaine. When she found the two, a smile came to her face.
Avaris was holding a barbarian to the ground, and she had his arm twisted in such a way that there was visible pain on his face. Two dead bodies were slumped to the ground near them. Arcadia stood over the barbarian and spoke, "How many?"
"Twenty," the barbarian cried.
"We had thirteen," Bristol said as he walked up behind Reyna. It took a moment for Reyna to add together the two dead bodies near the man. Plus the ones she killed. "You, imperator?"
"Four," Reyna answered. She walked towards the man and stared down at the man. "Which makes you the last one. Why did Seva want to burn this place down?"
"I don't fucking know," the man snapped. A scream left him as Avaris broke his arm. "Fuck! She wanted to hide the knowledge inside.
"Were you going to save anything before you burned it?" Arcadia questioned. The man screamed as his arm was twisted again.
"Yes! The book on the champions," the man screamed. Reyna tensed and gripped her sword.
"What book?" Reyna slowly asked.
"I don't know. Please. I don't know. She just said it was a black journal with gold writing on it. We found it and gave it to her. Please let me go," the man cried. Reyna hesitated to end his suffering, but as Bristol looked at her, Reyna nodded. Bristol stabbed the man in the throat.
"We need to find that book," Reyna said. She looked at the others. "They weren't able to burn anything down. I want everyone to move fast and move in groups of two."
"You shouldn't go alone, imperator," Arcadia began. Reyna hesitated, but she nodded.
"Bristol and Aquitaine will come with me. Find anything that you can that will help us whether it's about war tactics or even the peacekeepers," Reyna ordered. She hesitated before finishing her thought. "Or the gods."
"Understood, imperator," Avaris said. She bowed and then knelt by the man, searching through his things. Reyna turned and started to explore the library. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for, but there had to be something that could help her. With what she wasn't sure. Reyna just needed an answer on what to do or some kind of guidance.
Reyna wished she could find a book that would allow her to just disappear or fast forward through this war. Instead, she was still stuck in the middle. A lot of people would be pissed off no matter what side she chose. Reyna took a deep breath. She needed to focus, and if there was any place that could give her more guidance or even an idea on what to do, it would be here. She just had to hope she could find it.