11. Therius
"I see that you finally came, Zael."
The voice was deep, but younger than Asthar's own. The face of a white-haired knight immediately sprang into Zael's mind, and he thought he remembered the voice's owner's name, too.
"Therius?"
A soft sigh echoed, before the owner of the voice spoke again. "I am Therius, yes. I'm glad that you remember me."
Arganan looked around, frowning. "Where the hell are you? Can't you just appear in front of us?"
"I don't have that power, unfortunately. I died in these sewers, after the Gurak gravely injured me." Therius' voice echoed. "And I cannot be released for good until this area is cleansed."
"You've got to be kidding me." Arganan groaned. "What does it mean? Terminals? Killing Reptids? Both?"
Zael heard Therius sigh. "There are four terminals that the Gurak planted down here, after they initially invaded these sewers. They put some down here to keep watch for anyone that might use this area as means of either escape from the Gurak, or as a hideout for rebels. I've seen many deaths down here, and I don't think you want that little girl I saw earlier to be another one."
"The girl's down here!?" Zael looked around quickly.
"Yes. She's further in." Therius confirmed. "With the way I am, I cannot save her. But you can, Zael. I need you to activate all four terminals with your power to reach her. And please, hurry!"
With that, Therius' voice completely faded away. Zael took a deep breath,
"Well," Zael heard Arganan quip, "We better get searching in this crappy place."
Zael raised a brow towards him. "Did you just make a pun?"
The older man stared at him, before hastily shaking his head. "Only accidentally."
The sewers were mostly straight-forward, so far. Zael found himself fighting a few more of those odd golems that he encountered back at Lazulis Castle, similar to those he saw in the Military Wing. Zael found one terminal and quickly activated it with his Outsider's power. As it glowed blue, he heard Therius speak.
"Three terminals left, Zael. You're faster than I thought."
Zael took a deep breath as he looked towards Arganan. "What was Sir Therius like?"
"Therius?" Arganan blinked once, before explaining. "He was…quiet. Incredibly, even more than General Asthar. I don't know much about him, to be honest, but I do know that Therius was Asthar's closest student prior to Asthar meeting you."
"Asthar personally trained him in the ways of knighthood?"
"Yes." Arganan nodded once, and a memory flashed through Zael's mind; one of Therius tackling the then-Count of Lazulis out of the way of falling debris.
"He saved you once." Zael quipped, and he saw Arganan raised a brow, eye widening. "When the debris fell…I think it was during an attack from the Gurak."
The other nodded. "I see you remembered that."
"I don't know what happened after that, though."
The older man shrugged, before looking around. "We should continue."
Travelling further into the sewers made Zael wish he was back on the surface. Not just because the sewers were infested with all sorts of odd monsters (Reptids, Arganan explained), but also because there was so much water (and probably other material, but Zael didn't want to know) getting into his boots. He was relieved when he finally found the second terminal and activated it.
"Two left." Therius echoed. "You're halfway there."
Zael remembered another time; one with Therius and that red-haired woman in his vision (what was her name again? Syrenne?) arguing with each other, with Syrenne straight-up challenging Therius to a fight. Zael grimaced as he recalled that. Surely that didn't end well.
Eventually, after fighting at least three more odd automatons planted by the Gurak, Zael found another terminal.
"There's one terminal left. It's not far from here."
"Finally," Zael heard Arganan groan. "It's about time."
Zael looked towards the older man, frowning. "Have you seen the little girl at all? The one that fell down here?"
Arganan shook his head. "Not yet, unfortunately. What about you?"
"…No."
Zael swallowed. He hoped the little girl was safe. Maybe she was just hiding, he told himself.
What if he found her dead?
He hoped, as he kept searching for the last terminal, that he'd find her soon.
Half an hour of searching, later, Zael found the last terminal and activated it. One of the walls to his left slid open, revealing torches. Odd symbolds that Zael didn't recognize lined the walls of the newly-revealed tunnel, and Zael had a feeling that this wasn't a good sign.
"That's all of the terminals, Zael. Go through that door. The girl should be there! And hurry!"
Zael looked towards Arganan. "We ran into a bunch of Reptids earlier, right? Do you think…?"
"The Gurak found a way to collaborate with the Reptids." Arganan breathed. He looked disturbed, jaw tightening as he put the pieces together. "How else could both the Reptids and the automatons be down here at the same time?"
"We have to hurry," Zael breathed, before rushing straight into the tunnel. He didn't know what these symbols and torches meant, but if the Gurak were collaborating with the Reptids and it could result in the death of that little girl, things were about to get hellish if Zael didn't do a thing to stop whatever they planned to do with her.
