Nate recognised the silver-haired, clean-shaven gunman instantly. It was the man who followed them the night before. He was wearing slacks and a pullover and held a Walther P99. Behind him were three more gunmen, two held similar P99s pointing down but ready, fingers on the trigger, while the third held a shotgun at his side.

How the hell did he get a shotgun in here Nate wondered. Then realised that wasn't important right now. Getting the hell out of here was.

The one in front said something, breaking him out of his thoughts, in a language he didn't understand. It definitely wasn't Polish.

"Easy there, fellas" Nate said, trying to calm them. This wasn't the first time he was held at gunpoint, heck it was probably over 20 times by now, but his heart hammered in his chest just the same as it did the first time.

The man repeated the words.

"I don't understand what you're saying" Nate replied back slowly.

The man pointed to the folio hanging from Nathan's shoulder.

Of course

Sighing, Nate removed the folio and handed it to his assailant who then handed it to his shotgun-carrying crony and said something, making a twirling motion with his finger. Two of the men nodded and hurried off through the door and out of sight.

He then turned to the other thug, this one had a neatly trimmed black beard and was wearing similar dark clothing, and said something to which he nodded and hurried off towards the cell leaving Nate standing alone with leader, as Nate thought of him.

"So...what now?" Nate asked.

The leader said nothing, and they waited in silence, Nate with his hands up, him with his gun pointed at him, never wavering.

His bearded colleague returned and spoke to him. The leader nodded and then barked out something and waggled his hand at Nate to turn around. Complying, he turned around and was shoved in the back hard, almost falling over.

"Alright, alright. Geez, no need to be so rough. It's my first time too."

They began walking in the gloom back the way he came, back towards the cell. Nate's mind worked a mile a minute, he could try to duck into one of the buildings, but they would easily follow him in and shoot him no doubt. Or just kick his ass.

Though if they were intending on shooting him, why not just do it here and now, there's no reason not to, it's not as if anyone else knows this place exists. At least not yet.

And where the hell was Sully? Did he run into these guys? Or is he hiding away somewhere, biding his time? Nate couldn't take the chance on relying on Sully, not knowing where he was and weapon-less, so his mind turned to a more desperate move.

It was at this point he realised he wasn't weapon-less, he still had the sword in his belt. Either the thugs missed it in the gloom of the cavern, especially in the walkway between the buildings where the light barely penetrated, or they just weren't experienced in this type of thing.

A plan formed, not a good one but that was his MO most of the time.

"If you're looking for any treasure, it's not here. It's gone" he said over his shoulder.

Silence.

"I know where it went," he continued. "I can show you the way, we can split it fifty-fifty."

"Shut!" the thug behind him said in broken English, pressing the gun into his back.

"Ok, ok. Thirty-seventy, but that's as low as I'll-"

The thug placed a hand on his shoulder and whirled him around. As he did so, Nate turned with the motion, quicker than the man expected, and grabbed the gun. He pushed it to the side, and headbutted the thug flush on the bridge of his nose.

"Ow shit!" Nate cried out as pain exploded around his forehead. He shook his head and wrestled the bloody-nosed thug into a position between himself and the bearded thug where he couldn't get a shot off. While they wrestled, Nate freed one hand and pulled his sword from his belt. He sliced the gun hand and the thug involuntarily let go while letting out a scream of pain and clutching his arm.

The thug dropped the P99 and Nate plunged the sword into his stomach. He groaned and Nate pushed him against his colleague, who was trying to push his dying partner away. Together they were tangled up and Nate dived for the fallen P99. He grabbed it and rolled, getting into a kneeling position, took aim and fired.

The shot rang out like a church bell in the cavern, but it was true, hitting the bearded thug in the head before he could raise his own weapon. He was dead before he knew it and fell in a heap, the gun clattering away.

The silver-haired lay, groaning on the ground clutching his stomach around the sword. Blood was flowing freely, and he probably wouldn't survive without medical attention, and he would definitely need a tetanus injection.

Time was short, the gunshot would have been heard by his two cronies and who knows how many others. He picked up the fallen gun and put it in his waistband while keeping the other one out and ready.

He returned down the walkway and peered around the corner to the entrance where the other two exited minutes before. No one was coming, which was a good sign but it was also his only way out of here and he knew they were somewhere that way.

The only way I know he thought. There was a second way that Martinus used to let the Mongols in but unless he could find it in the five or so minutes he had before someone came to investigate, he was going to be stuck in a shootout and he didn't like his chances.

He decided to give himself a couple of minutes to try to find the secret exit before going out the way he came in. He headed for the cavern walls reasoning that they were in a circular cavern so the other exit must be in the walls.

Or the floor he thought with worry.

He reached the Northern wall, next to the cell and quickly walked the circumference of the cavern, eyes searching the walls for a switch or plate to depress or a sign that said 'Secret Exit Right Here!' but he had no such luck as he rounded to the eastern wall and as he hurried along the wall, searching, he kicked something that made a distinctive clinking sound.

It was a rusted chain curled up on the floor.

Where did that come from?

Picking it up, he examined one end but it had a normal loop with a triangular handle so he followed it, untangling the chain with a loud metallic rattle that felt to Nate like it would be a beacon for the others to find him. The chain was about two meters in length and when he found the other end of it, the last link was bent and twisted. Nate looked up and he could see the other part of the chain swinging idly in the air, he had to squint in the gloom but he saw that it was attached to a lever about two and a half to three meters above him.

That must be it!

He examined the wall, it was rough, a natural wall not something cut out with tools. This gave him hope as he started to climb, he had no time to try and find a route up or even if there was a route to the lever. He grabbed onto the holds and pulled himself up, finding footing where he could he made his way up. It felt like it took him an hour, but it was only a couple of minutes before he found himself within reach of the lever.

He grabbed hold of the metre-long iron bar and was about to pull down when a shot rang out and pinged off the wall near his head. The echo thundered through the cavern.

Nate looked over and saw the two thugs were back and they'd brought company.

They're probably not thugs.

Five more followed them, four of them carrying P99s while the other was the shotgun carrier from earlier, and he still had the satchel. Three of them were dressed black military fatigues. A backup team

Mercenaries!

"Crap" Nate groaned. He pulled the lever, it resisted for two seconds before releasing downwards. He quickly looked around but saw no secret trapdoor fall open or wall swing open.

"Crap!" he repeated. More shots rang out while Nate dropped to the ground, providing momentary cover behind the makeshift buildings. He pulled his gun out and took cover against the wall of one of the buildings. None of the mercenaries were in view, probably trying to surround him. Smart move, it was one against seven.

There must be another lever somewhere. He had to find it quickly.

Taking a deep breath and let it out slowly. If there were to be a second lever, it would make sense to put it on the opposite side, like a winch for a portcullis.

Having no better idea, Nate decided the other side of the cavern was his best bet.

He worked his way around the perimeter of the cavern, keeping the wall behind him so he couldn't be ambushed. Just as he reached the western side of the cavern, he saw the lever and the still attached chain about fifteen metres away.

Finally! Some luck.

A shot rang out, thudding into a wooden crate less than a metre away. Instinctively, Nate ducked behind a second crate and held his gun ready. Another shot echoed and hit the wall behind him, chips of limestone falling around him.

He popped his head up and aimed, it was hard to see in the gloom, so he fired off two shots and crouch-walked to the next crate over. More shots rang out but they were off target by a good distance.

The gloom was affecting their aim, the one benefit he had in his corner.

Nearby there was a brazier and an idea struck Nate. Squeezing off two more shots he ran over to the brazier and shoulder charged it. It was solid, and hot, but it tipped over, breaking the stone channels and plunging the surrounding area into darkness.

He did the same again to the next one over and he was practically invisible to the shooters. Shots rang out as they blind fired, but Nate had already snuck ahead, they didn't know he was trying to reach the lever so he bought himself some time.

He reached the lever and chain, while the mercenaries were firing somewhere behind him, and grabbed a hold of it and yanked. The lever resisted and he pulled harder. It still resisted, like a fish on a lure, and then the chain snapped, only a meter or so of it but enough to be just out of reach.

"Oh, come on!" Nate grumbled as the chain crashed to the floor at his feet.

Time was running out and quickly examining the wall, there were no obvious handholds for him. Turning back, he saw a square box about his height against one of the walls of the buildings. He ran over to it and pulled it away from the wall. Thankfully it wasn't too heavy, and he moved behind it and began pushing it towards the lever. It made a rough, scraping sound that would attract everyone within earshot, assuming they stopped firing their guns long enough to listen.

The cavern echoed with gunshots and Nate wasn't sure when they were firing since it all melted together into one continuous sound, but he continued forward, pushing the crate and hurrying as best he could.

He finally arrived just as a bullet thudded into the wooden crate. They'd found him, but he had no time to worry about it. Nate blind fired the 4 remaining bullets from his P99 in the direction he thought the mercenaries were and tossed the gun. He wasn't aiming at anything just trying to buy himself some time. Then he clambered on to the crate and jumped for the lever. Just as he jumped a spray of bullets whizzed past him but he ignored the urge to forget the chain and drop down behind the crate and grabbed the lever. The lever resisted briefly before falling into the down position.

A grinding sound echoed throughout the cabin and the shooting stopped. From his position above the lever Nate saw a trapdoor drop down in the centre of the cavern.

"Haha!" Nate whooped as he let go of the lever, jumped down from the box and pulled the second P99 from his belt, releasing the safety.

He ducked and moved from crate to crate, bullets flying all around. He fired two shots at a merc that was caught in open space ahead of him, the first bullet hit his leg and the second in the shoulder. He went down and Nate kicked the gun away as he ran past. He reached the corner of a building and peered around the corner. There was no one around the trapdoor. Perhaps they hadn't heard it open.

The shooting had now stopped the mercenaries probably realising they were wasting bullets blindly shooting into the darkness. There were still six mercs out there, probably spread out searching the immediate area, but Nate had no choice.

Using the gloom as cover he moved closer, the crates providing cover but just as he got to a crate about 15 meters away from the trapdoor, a voice from somewhere to his left shouted something and the bullets started again.

Without time to think of a plan, Nate stood and fired in that direction and was running towards the trapdoor. He hoped to force them into cover and give himself enough time to bolt down the hole. He didn't even give thought to the idea that the trapdoor may not lead anywhere or that the tunnels were caved in. It didn't matter, it was either risk it or get shot.

One of his bullets hit a merc in the shoulder and he went down, and by instinct his colleague ducked down, grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him out of Nate's firing line.

A surge of adrenaline coursed through him as he fired the remaining bullets of his gun and tossed it and charged full steam ahead for the trapdoor. When he was a couple of meters away from the opening, two mercs materialised as if from nowhere in front of him. Nate skidded to a stop, ducked and head back the way he came. Suddenly he heard a WHUMP and then a whistling sound followed. An explosion erupted a couple of meters in front of him. The concussive force of it threw him off his feet, propelling him backwards. He landed and rolled head over heels and then screamed as he disappeared down the trapdoor.