Captain Vidican recovered quickly and began shouting orders, which in turn set Horn off shouting orders and soon the fort was a flurry of activity. The wounded were gathered and taken to the infirmary, their dead were laid out on one side of the courtyard and covered with their cloaks for later burial. The dead Nephilim were unceremoniously dragged to the gate where they were left in a great pile. Later they would be taken outside the fort and burned.

Markham moved around collecting his arrows and Dannica went to see to the wounded. Scratch helped move the bodies and Trent stood in a corner whispering to Master Warren. Vidican oversaw the activities with an experienced eye, eyes that were flashing in anger over the unexpected attack.

"Sergeant Horn!"

"Yes Captain," the man straightened from helping with the Avernite dead.

"Take some men and inspect that storeroom. Figure out how these bastards got in here."

"Yes Captain."

The scarred man quickly and efficiently gathered up the closest group of men still standing and moved warily toward the storerooms.

"You four," the red haired woman beckoned to the companions, who ceased what they were doing and made their way over to her. "This changes nothing. I need you out on your mission now. The kitties are bold to attack us here. The sooner we clear them out the better." Turning toward Dannica she held up a hand, anticipating her protest. "Priestess, we have other healer's. The wounded will be seen to. Right now I need you four out there accomplishing your mission. We'll deal with this."

Spotting Horn moving quickly toward them she turned to him, raising her eyebrow questioningly.

The burly sergeant gave her a salute, fist to heart, which she returned and looked at him impatiently. He cleared his throat before beginning, looking more uncomfortable than Markham had ever seen him.

"Captain we found how they got in. There's a big crack in the wall of the storeroom. It was behind a shelf which is how we missed it." Looking around at the blood soaked dirt of the courtyard he looked grim. "Was my fault Captain. I shouldn't have missed it."

Vidican waved the apology away. "We all should have seen it Sergeant. Nothing to do now but deal with it and move forward. You four," she said, turning back to Markham and the others, "Gather your things and move out. We'll be waiting outside the mines in four days. Be careful and good luck." With that she turned and made her way back towards her office.

Horn looked at Markham, his face still grim. "Well Scout, you heard her. Take them out. We'll be wanting to pay the kitties back for this so get it done right." Having said all he needed to say, Horn turned back to supervising the remaining soldiers.

Without a word the four turned and made their way back to the gate to recover their packs. Dannica moved to the men watching the gate, spoke a few words, and they lifted the crossbar and pushed open the wooden doors, presenting the four with a view of the large cavern around Fort Ganrick. It was barren, even for Avernum, with only a few scattered stalagmites or warped cave trees dotting the rocky landscape. At the east, west, and south ends of the cavern were tunnels leading off into the distance. Markham paused to consider the eastern tunnel, which seemed all the darker and more foreboding now that he knew it was his destination.

"If we can get a couple of miles into the tunnels we should be able to find someplace to hole up for some sleep," Markham remarked.

Dannica gave him a less-than-friendly glance and then sighed, resigned to her fate, and started off. Trent spared one last look back at the activity in the fort and then followed after her. Markham started off with Scratch.

"Nothing like a nice adventure with cheery friends to keep you company," he sighed.

Scratch eyed him before giving him a toothy grin.

"At leassst you have me."

Markham gave him a mock groan, then laughed, and the two friends made their way out of the fort and toward the dark tunnels to the east.

That's the last of it folks. I hope you enjoyed reading it because I enjoyed writing it. This was my first big (over five pages) writing endeavor and I wrote the entire thing when I was abroad in 2010. Please feel more than free to leave reviews. I'm always interested in hearing your feedback.

-James