Chapter Eleven: Blood in the Water

Several things happened at once.

The dagger impacted with a wet thud.

Percy felt a sting across his arm, followed by a warm trickle of blood.

And Ripley howled in pain.

Vax's blade buried itself to the hilt in Ripley's thigh, only to blink back to his hand in an instant. Ripley fired her pepperbox, but the shot went wide in her surprise, the bullet pinging off the stone walls. Percy flinched to avoid the ricochet, and as he did, felt the ropes binding him loosen and begin to fall away.

Vax'ildan, you clever bastard, he thought with a tight smile.

Shrugging off the ropes, Percy glanced over his shoulder to see Vax reach down and cut Vex's bonds, as well. Their eyes met, and Percy gave him a short, sharp nod. He drew his pepperbox from its holster and turned back to face Ripley—

—but she was gone. Only a quickly fading silver mist remained where she'd stood an instant before. In her place, more goblins poured out of the darkness.

"Percival! Cover me!" Vex shouted.

Percy fired into the horde, holding them back just long enough for Vex to slip back into the room where she'd been held. A moment later, goblins began to fall with arrows in their throats. Flanked, they hesitated, giving Percy just enough time to reload before they surged forward again.

Swearing under his breath, Percy backed up, unleashing another garage of bullets, trying to keep out of melee range. How many of these misbegotten things had Ripley hired? Moreover, where had she gotten the coin to satisfy so many greedy, grubby fingers?

But there wasn't time to wonder about that as the pepperbox clicked, empty. The nearest goblin lunged swinging its scimitar wildly, and Percy parried the blow with the barrel. He hadn't had the chance to charge up his electroshock gauntlet, so he settled for aiming a punch at the goblin's throat instead. His fist connected with a crunch more felt than heard, and the goblin fell back, gagging and choking. Percy quickly reloaded again and ended its misery.

Ans still they came. Damn it all, there wasn't time for this! "Vax!" Percy roared over the noise of battle. "Find Ripley! Don't let her escape!"

Maybe it was his imagination, but he could swear he heard her laughter echoing down from the tunnels.

"Vax! Find Ripley! Don't let her escape!"

Vax didn't bother to acknowledge Percy. Trusting his friend and his sister to handle the goblins, he slipped away from the fight to peer into the tunnels. Ripley's Misty Step couldn't have taken her far, and that leg wound he'd tagged her with had to be slowing her down. But in the chaos, it seemed she'd plunged into the shadows too far even for his darkvision to follow. Cursing, he ducked a barbed arrow as he tried to decide which way she might have gone: up toward the exit, or down, deeper into the maze?

Something in the floor caught his eye, glistening darkly on the damp stone. Fresh blood, a small puddle of it. And drips in an unsteady line leading up and out.

Vax smirked to himself. I've got you now.

"This house looks like shit," Grog observed. "You sure this is the right place, Pikey?"

Pike shrugged. "I won't really know until we get inside. But Count Gildspire was pretty convinced this was it."

"I think he was right," said Keyleth, pointing to a wide swath of plants flattened by many trampling feet. "Animals didn't do this. Well, maybe they did, but only if people were riding them, or maybe controlling them, or if they were pets, or…" She trailed off with a frustrated groan. "It's not natural, is what I'm saying."

"I get it. Good eyes, Keyleth," Pike said encouragingly.

Keyleth blushed slightly, clutching her staff with both hands and grinning shyly. "Thanks," she replied.

The leader of the Gildspire men, a hulking half-Orc the others lovingly called Hack, called his squad to a halt, then turned to face Pike. "What're yer orders, lass?" he asked gruffly.

Pike blinked at him for a second, a little surprised. My orders? She wasn't sure when she'd become the leader of this little expedition. But with Grog, Keyleth, Hack, and the other half-dozen guardsmen looking to her for guidance, she supposed it was time to step up. "Follow that trail," she said firmly. "Keep your eyes open, and watch for traps. Ripley's a tricky one."

"Aye." Hack turned to his men. "Right, you 'eard the lass. Move out, and keep yer 'eads on a swivel!"

The Gildspire men fanned out around Vox Machina, and they crept slowly down the path, following it around the back of the manor to a small wooden door. Pike's heart sank. It was really small. Keyleth would have to duck to get through. Grog and Hack might not fit at all.

She pulled at the door, and cursed. The point was moot if it wouldn't open. "Damn, it's locked," she groused. "Anybody got a pick?"

Grog chuckled, hefting his greataxe. "I gotcher lockpick right here, Pikey."

"Have at it buddys," said Pike with a grin, and stepped aside.

One mighty blow was all it took. The door shattered off its hinges, and Grog reached in and tore the frame out for good measure. "Unlocked!" he announced.

Hack gave Grog a friendly punch on the shoulder. "I like your style, mate."

The door led into a tunnel, narrow but thankfully taller than the opening. It sloped down into thick darkness that seemed to Pike to swirl with evil intentions. She swallowed hard and stepped inside, keeping as quiet as her armor would allow, listening intently for any sounds that might mean someone else was there. Hearing nothing, she cast Light on her mace, holding it up like a torch, and beckoned Grog and Keyleth to follow.

Keyleth ducked inside gracefully, picking her way forward over the slick stones with careful movements. Grog grunted as he squeezed through the jagged opening, bumping his head on torn masonry and grumbling something about getting splinters in his ass. But once inside, he could stand upright, with room to carry Pike on his shoulders if it came to a chase. Thank the Everlight for small favors.

Pike called back to the Gildspire men. "Hack, I think you and your guys should keep watch outside. We'll scout ahead, and let you know if we find anything."

"Aye, lass. Good luck down there!"

Pike led Grog and Keyleth slowly down the tunnel. Before long, the light from her mace illuminated a gruesome scene: bloody bodies strewn on the floor, piled three deep in places. All goblins, she noted with relief, and most bearing knife or gunshot wounds. "Well, we know Percy and Vax were here," she said. "Looks like we missed quite the party."

"Think there's more of them?" Keyleth asked nervously.

"Sure hope so," said Grog. "Looks like Vax and Percy hogged all the fun!"

The tunnel widened out as it came to an end, a door standing open on each side. Beyond the doors lay identical rooms that looked like barracks, lit with torches. An opening at the back of each room led into depper, darker tunnels.

"Which way?" Pike mused, frowning.

"Oh, I think I can help with that!" said Keyleth. She crouched down, the gem on her staff glowing, and a moment later the fiery-haired half-elf was gone, and in her place stood a huge gray wolf. Putting her nose to the ground, she sniffed toward the right door, then abruptly turned and headed toward the left. At the entrance to the room, she froze for a second, and then with a howl of triumph, dashed off down the tunnel.

"Let's go, Grog!" Pike called, and scrambled up to his shoulders as he scooped her up on his way past. Even he had to work to keep up with Keyleth as she bounded over the damp and slippery stones as fast as her massive paws could carry her.

Another intersection. Another choice. Keyleth paused for only a moment to sniff at the ground again, then disappeared to the right. Grog skidded around the corner after her, and Pike had to wrap her arms around his head to hold on.

Before long, she could see a cold blue glow up ahead, coming from an open door. Keyleth ran inside, and Pike's heart leapt into her throat at the sound of a high-pitched canine yelp from within. As Grog caught up, Keyleth backed out again, crouching low to the ground, tail between her legs, whining, but apparently unhurt.

"What is it, Keyleth?" Pike asked as she slid down from Grog's shoulders. But Keyleth only continued to back away from the door.

Hesitantly, Pike peeked into the room—and found the scene within terribly familiar. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.

"Keyleth," she said softly, "go get Hack and his men. Tell them we've found Lady Kaiya's body."

Keyleth didn't need to be told twice.

As the great gray wolf disappeared back up the tunnels, a series of pops echoed up from deeper in: the unmistakable sound of distant gunfire. There was only one person in all Exandria that could be. And where Percy was, they'd find Vax and, hopefully, Vex.

And from the sound of it, probably Ripley as well.

Pike looked up at Grog. "Ready to join the party, buddys?"

Before Grog could do much more than grin back, the tunnels shook with a bone-rattling explosion.