This is the fourth time rewriting this chapter. Sorry for the delay.
Chapter Four: Part One
Investigations
Secret #1
Name: Arin
Age: 9
From: Mlkwt Alsmwat, Nagarea
Position: Liberation Army soldier (?)
Secret #2
You requested me to investigate your little brother? How very strange. I can't imagine I would be able to shed any light on Arin that you don't already know. Well, he absolutely adores you. He's rather wise beyond his years, and seems to have more self-awareness than most adults do. But I'm sure you already know all this.
Secret #3
I listed his birthplace as Mlkwt Alsmwat, but that's technically not correct. It seems your mother gave birth to him on the road while your family was fleeing Mlkwt Alsmwat. He was born premature too, and everyone was concerned that he wouldn't make it. But your parents refused to give up on him and he eventually got better. This is accurate, correct?
Secret #4
Because of his imprisonment he's never learned how to read. Oh, but that hasn't stopped him from trying. Just the other day I found him trying to read a large dictionary! Thankfully our new headquarters has a library, but make sure he doesn't push himself too hard.
He also likes ice cream. Sorry if this report sounds lackluster (especially since you spent money on it), but I honestly don't know what else I can tell you about your little brother that you don't already know.
Investigations
Secret #1
Name: Felicity
Age: 17
From: Farna, Nagarea
Position: Liberation Army soldier, former Dark Chasm prisoner
Secret #2
Felicity is one of you best friends with whom you met during your time in the Dark Chasm. In that wretched place she stood out from other children because of her optimism in the fact of the horrendous abuse you all suffered. This tended to get her into trouble a lot, because the guards didn't take kindly to seeing smiles and laughter, which Felicity frequently displayed. But it didn't stop her from behaving this way, somewhat in defiance of them.
Secret #3
This is no secret, but Felicity survived the Plague of Farna. Twelve years ago the town was struck by a plague that had been created by the Theocracy to exterminate the elves of Nagarea, but the plague accidentally spread to Farna. Eight thousand people died of the Plague, including Felicity's mother. She witnessed many horrors in that city, and this may have been why she wasn't so fazed by her experience in the Dark Chasm. I would strongly recommend talking with her about her experience sometime. It's not an easy subject for her, but she seems more relaxed when she gets it off her chest.
Secret #4
This may surprise you, but Felicity has become disillusioned with the Nagarean faith. Her father was convicted under Original Sin for adultery; he had an affair with the wife of a cleric. This is part of the reason he made many business trips to Mlkwt Alsmwat. As per the laws of Original Sin, both guilty parties should be punished. However, only Felicity's family was punished and the cheating wife was not. Felicity has expressed a lot of anger over this, because she feels it isn't fair that her family was singled out for punishment. It's probably because of this why she was so enthusiastic about joining the Liberation Army.
One week later…
Daunte rolled onto his back and he came fully awake. The sunlight filtering in from the windows filled the room, and he blinked against them as he sat up. He had been given his parent's old bedroom, and as they had become fully settled in their new headquarters they were able to procure furniture. They provided him a king-sized bed—though he would've been happy with a twin-sized one—and his room was filled with furniture. In the center of the room was a circular table, and he relaxed at who he saw there.
"Good morning, Big Brother," Arin greeted him around the food in his mouth. "Ms. Tidur sent breakfast up for us!"
Arin had been given the adjoining room, which ironically had been Daunte and Arin's shared room when they had originally lived there. Every morning Arin would get up and eat breakfast with him. It was strange doing something so…normal with his little brother after everything they'd gone through.
"Good morning," Daunte said, rubbing at his eyes as he got out of bed. He looked at the food placed out for him on the table and paused. There was…quite a bit of it. Including two bowls of white rice. "Tidur is certainly generous to me," he said as he took a seat at the table.
"Well, today is a big day," Arin said, positively smiling at Daunte. "Today, you lead the Liberation Army to the Dark Chasm!"
Daunte hadn't forgotten, but the sudden anticipation he felt was startling. He dug into his breakfast before speaking again. "It's been carefully mapped out," he told Arin. "Viki warned us that she could sense an increased military presence in multiple cities across the country, so we will most likely not be able to teleport directly to K'alak'i Patieba. Our best chance is to march there."
"They probably know about our new hideout and that you're our leader now," Arin said, swallowing his food loudly. "Hey, Varnaz is still out looking for Lord Lorik isn't he?"
"He volunteered for the job himself," Daunte confirmed. "That was three days ago, however. But he did say that he didn't want us to wait for him to commence this campaign, so hopefully after we liberate the Dark Chasm we'll return to find that Varnaz has found Lord Lorik and the other survivors of Agameru."
Arin nodded eagerly. "Are you guys going to march upon the Dark Chasm?"
"Not necessarily," Daunte said. "We're more organized now, but we still lost many soldiers. Granted we both know our current forces outnumber the forces at the Dark Chasm, but if we're not careful then we could find ourselves facing Sheikh Nuori and her forces."
"The deserters returned though, didn't they?"
"That's true. But we still have to be careful." This had actually shocked Daunte. The Liberation Army soldiers who had deserted had left because they did not have faith in Bearyl Lutis. Once word began to spread that Daunte had been appointed leader, every single soldier who had deserted resurfaced and pledged themselves to Daunte. Daunte didn't quite know what to think of these men and women who left the Liberation Army, but Caesar advised him to welcome them back. Daunte was going to do so anyways, but he felt reassurance that his strategist also agreed with him.
I'll have to work hard to prove myself to them, so they don't feel inclined to desert again.
"I'm finished," Daunte said, setting down his chopsticks. "How about you, Arin?"
"I'm all done!"
"We're meeting to march in an hour, so before I go upstairs I'm going to make the rounds."
"Can I come with you?" Arin asked, jumping out of his chair. "I like walking around with you!"
"Sure."
This was another thing Caesar encouraged; making the rounds of the compound and checking upon his soldiers, in addition to learning and remembering everyone's names. Caesar had mentioned how Bearyl Lutis had never made the rounds of the previous headquarters, and how he spent most of his time in the war room. It had made him isolated from the soldiers, and Daunte had seen first-hand what happens when a leader didn't acknowledge their own troops and was careless with their lives. So Daunte always made sure to check up on everyone throughout the compound when he woke up.
It wasn't really anything new anyway.
Admittedly, Daunte still felt awkward walking through the Liberation Army headquarters as new leader. Every single person he passed, whether they be in uniform or not, immediately stopped and saluted him. He wasn't use to people deferring to him, and it felt awkward to have seasoned soldiers, with years more experience than him, put him on a pedestal. He probably would never get over how much people looked up to him and how much faith everyone had in him.
I will need to work harder, to prove that I'm worthy of this attention and to make sure we succeed.
Slowly but surely they were claiming the former Chapel as a proper headquarters. While many of the six buildings around the perimeter were still empty, the building northwest of the main building had been designated for all their shops. The building due north had a large first floor room, consisting of a dusty bar and a rather large stage. Desiree was constantly making use of the stage for dancing. Tidur transformed the second floor into an inn, and Oboro and Shou transformed half of the third floor into their detective office. The building northeast was currently empty, but the first floor looked like it could be converted into a restaurant—once Daunte could a chef for it, that is.
The buildings due south and to the southwest were empty, and the building to the southeast was nearly empty, except that Allise had claimed a room on the third floor. Daunte was puzzled as to why she wanted to have her living quarters in a nearly empty building when there was plenty of room in the main building. Daunte, Arin, and Caesar of course had rooms on the fourth floor, as did Varnaz. On the third floor Eamon and Gunther had taken rooms, and on the second floor Roen and Felicity had taken rooms. On the ground floor the two rooms on the west side of the main hall had been merged and converted into the infirmary, while the two rooms on the opposite side of the hall were still empty.
There's plenty of room. It's very odd that Allise wants to be by herself like that.
On the landing in the main hall, Daunte saw Viki standing beside a giant mirror with a platinum-colored frame. She was thankfully fully alert, though she wasn't wearing the nose plugs that Caesar had gotten for her. He still wore a smile however and approached her. "Good morning, Viki."
"Lord Daunte, good morning!" Viki squeaked, and quickly bowed. "I-I apologize, but I'm still sensing high levels of military presence in multiple cities!"
"No, no, it's all right. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing well, thank you. OH!" she suddenly shouted, startling both Daunte and Arin. "I-I almost forgot! I must give you something, my Lord!"
"Like what?" Daunte asked.
Viki reached into her left sleeve. "Now that we have a secure headquarters, I know this a perfect opportunity to give this to you." She withdrew an object and placed it into Daunte's outstretched hand. "Here. Please don't lose this, this is the only one I have."
Daunte stared at it. It was a mirror slightly larger than his hand with a platinum-colored framed. It was strange, though—the glass in the mirror was dark, and he could barely see his reflection. He looked up at the mirror beside Viki, and saw that the glass was also very dark.
"That's a Blinking Mirror," Viki explained. She gestured to the mirror beside her. "It's linked to this mirror. So long as you're not in a deep dungeon, that mirror will instantly teleport you back to this headquarters from anywhere in this country. So long as you're within the borders of Nagarea, it will bring you right back here."
"That's incredible!" Arin exclaimed. He looked at Daunte. "Y-You could use that mirror to teleport all of the children of the Dark Chasm back here!"
Daunte laughed softly as he looked at the Blinking Mirror, and he positively grinned at Viki. "Thank you for this."
"I-I'm sorry I waited so long to give that to you," Viki said. "But given the circumstances—"
"No, I completely understand. We didn't yet have a headquarters, and with everything going on there would've been a real risk of both of those mirrors breaking!" Daunte tucked the Blinking Mirror into an inner pocket. "I'll keep this safe. I promise."
Viki positively smiled at him. "Thank you, Lord Daunte."
Daunte checked in on Clara, and thankfully the young doctor wasn't overloaded with patients. In fact, she was too preoccupied with yelling at her only patient, who apparently had foolishly drunken sea water. Even Arin laughed at this as they headed out onto the grounds. He saw an area that had been roped off into a large circle, and he knew that was the area Jantu had claimed for combat training and duel practice. He saw Liron standing near the tavern/inn, trying out her many sound sets on volunteers. On the second floor he saw Tidur and Esther hanging blankets out of windows and beating at them with dusters. The windows on that building were stunning; Esther had undoubtedly tried out the window sets that Daunte had given her. "Good morning!" he called up to them.
"Good morning!" they chimed back.
He looked inside the tavern and thankfully saw no one passed out in there. He did see Priscilla and Desiree sitting at a table talking over coffee. "Do you want coffee?" he asked Arin.
Arin made a face. "Coffee tastes bad!"
Daunte snorted, and they walked towards their commercial space building. On the second floor Gusoku was opening the windows, and Daunte saw Gizli sitting on the window's edge on the third floor smoking a cigarette while Cairoh was cleaning the glass of another window. "Good morning!" Daunte greeted.
"Good morning!" Gusoku and Cairoh chimed down to him.
"Ugh," Gizli said, flicking cigarette ashes out the window.
"Good morning, Lord Daunte!" Ichirou burst out of the front door, grinning from ear to ear. "Man—I can't get over how much space we have now! We'll be able to hold anything!"
"I'm glad," Daunte told him. "But don't work too hard."
Ichirou shrugged. "I don't think I'm working hard—"
"Remembering that you're a kid and you're allowed to act like a kid," Daunte interrupted him. "You're very important to the Army, but you don't have to be all business all the time, Ichirou. You can take a day off."
"Well…all right." Ichirou nodded eagerly. "Thanks, Lord Daunte!"
"You're awesome, Big Brother," Arin gushed after they walked away. But Daunte shrugged. "It's not awesome to tell a kid to act like a kid. We may be an Army and we may have been through a lot, but we deserve to take a breather every now and then."
"That's why you're awesome!"
Daunte sighed painfully as they neared the cliff's edge. Below them, soldiers were hard at work replacing the rotted wood of the stairwell and the dock. They were nearly done. The lift, however, still had its rusted panel. Daunte knew they'd need someone with the right experience to take care of it.
"Isn't that dragon girl and her dragon down there?" Arin wondered, leaning over the rail.
"Yes, Sharon and Suna are down there," Daunte said, pulling Arin away from the rail. "She insisted. I guess Dragon Knights sleep in caves."
"But how have they gotten back up here?" Arin wondered out loud. "I-I mean they've torn out all the bad wood, but the stairwell isn't finished! And her dragon is still too tiny to carry her! Yet somehow she always turns up in the evening for supper at the tavern! Isn't that weird?"
"I've seen weirder," Daunte admitted, though he couldn't help but peek over the side.
"Hey…Daunte?" Arin asked.
"What is it?"
"I-I-I…" he shifted his weight from one foot to the other before continuing. "I know that…that you're marching the Army to liberate the Dark Chasm. But I—"
"You want to come?" Daunte finished.
"I won't get in the way, I promise!" Arin pleaded. "B-But I want to see that place liberated! I want to see all of those awful people pay for what they've done! I-I…" he ducked his head. "That place…that awful place almost killed me. So I want to see it dismantled!" he clasped his hands in front of himself and looked at Daunte pleadingly. "Please let me go with you! Pretty please?"
Daunte didn't know just how difficult the upcoming battle would be, but the thought of bringing Arin with him made him uncomfortable. Not only was he still just a little kid, but there was a high risk of death if they got ambushed. Not to mention the fact that Arin had never seen the horrors of a battlefield…
But he survived the horrors of the Dark Chasm. And—And I don't know exactly what he had witnessed when the previous headquarters was evacuated. But I don't want him to be hurt. What should I do?
He didn't know exactly what the right choice was, so he put a hand on Arin's shoulder. "I'll speak with Caesar about it."
Arin nodded eagerly. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Daunte!" he tugged on Daunte's hand. "Here, let's go to the war room now! It's almost time for your meeting, isn't it?"
"Sure. And after we meet we're going to march." Daunte allowed himself to be dragged by Arin, taking a brief moment to enjoy the fact that his little brother had fully recovered from the brink of death. He glanced around them and found that people were watching their display with amusement. Daunte however didn't feel embarrassed.
Today is the day we march. With any luck, we'll liberate the Dark Chasm on the first try.
A large group had gathered in the war room. Daunte recognized Caesar, Gunther, Allise, Eamon, Farzin, Roen, and Felicity, and everyone saluted when Daunte and Arin entered. "Lord Daunte, perfect timing!" Caesar announced, approaching them. "Oh, and you brought Arin too! I imagine he wants to see the Dark Chasm liberated?"
"Yes, I do!" Arin agreed.
Caesar smiled lazily at Daunte. "After everything he suffered in that place, I think it would be fitting if he come with us."
"R-Really?" Daunte asked. He saw the others shift with surprise.
"Sure," Caesar said. "Our plan is solid. There should be no danger to Arin by coming with us!"
"Yay!" Arin cheered, pumping his fists.
"Is this wise?" Allise spoke up.
Caesar shrugged nonchalantly as he returned to the table in the center of the room. "It wouldn't be the first time I saw a child on the battlefield. But now that everyone is here, let's get down to business. Our position is here." he pointed to the west coastline of Nagarea. "While the Dark Chasm is here." he drew his finger across the map towards the southeast of the country. "Viki has warned that cities across Nagarea have an increased military presence. Quite prominently in K'alak'i Patieba. So it would be in our best interest to not teleport the soldiers to K'alak'i Patieba."
"If K'alak'i Patieba has the most military personnel, then the Theocracy must be aware what our mission is," Eamon spoke up. "We may be leading our soldiers into another trap."
"That is a possibility, but luckily we're not," Caesar said, looking up. "The scouts we've sent ahead have reported though the security at the Dark Chasm has increased in size, there is no standing Army there."
"To go off-topic briefly," Gunther said. "The scouts we sent up to explore the underground cave have not returned yet."
"Oh, but we sent them just yesterday," Caesar reminded him. "It will most likely take them awhile to navigate the cavern. But getting back on topic, to avoid walking into another ambush we will split up the Army and march from the south and the west here and here." he pointed to each location on the map. "There is only one official entrance into the Dark Chasm, and that's from a lift in the north." He pointed to the location on the map. "However, our last report from our scouts indicated that there are thirty soldiers stationed around the perimeter of the mine, which is why I believe we should approach from behind, and from their left."
"W-What about the ruin?" Roen spoke up. "Have they found the ruin?"
"Ruin?" Farzin asked.
"T-The Dark Chasm was built on top of a ruin," Daunte explained. He held up his right hand. "That's where I found this True Rune. That was how we escaped."
Caesar's grin broadened. "We received no reports regarding any ruins, which indicates to us that they have not yet been found."
"Are you serious?" Felicity asked. "I-I mean, they followed us into the ruin when we made our escape! Did they really not find the way out?!"
"Well, that's better for us," Gunther announced, cracking his knuckles. "So we'll mobilize the Army to move, and we'll attack from above and from below!"
Caesar nodded. "Then we'll modify the plan accordingly. We'll send in an initial party into the ruin to mark a path for the soldiers. Then while the soldiers move in from behind, other units will attack from here." he pointed with his finger. "We'll engage the soldiers while we evacuate the Dark Chasm. I think it would also be in our best interests to destroy any and all mining equipment we find. We don't want them to sentence any more children to this place before we overthrow the government."
"If I may say so," Eamon spoke up. "You're awfully confident about the success of this operation."
"Of course I am," Caesar said. "We're going to succeed. Isn't that right, Lord Daunte?"
Daunte was also surprised by Caesar's confidence but nodded. "Absolutely. We're going to succeed."
"All right, then." Caesar straightened. "My Lord, would you like to lead the initial party into the ruin?"
"We're sending our commander into the ruins?!" Farzin demanded. "Then who will lead the Army with the upper level attack?!"
"Yes, I want to send Lord Daunte into the ruin," Caesar said. "He's already travelled the ruin, so he will be better prepared to go back through it than any of our scouts. In addition, he will most likely be the first face the children see when the attack commences. It will be comforting for the children to see a familiar face rescuing them, and it will boost the reputation of the Army to have the commander himself appear behind enemy lines and attack from within. What do you think, my Lord?" he looked to Daunte. "Do you approve?"
Daunte nodded. "I was going to volunteer anyways."
"Excellent!" Caesar cheered, straightening. "Once we arrive at the Dark Chasm, we will have very little time to stop and talk. I will arrange the party you will take with you into the ruins now."
"I'm going," Roen immediately volunteered.
"As am I," Felicity chimed in. "I've been waiting for an opportunity to dismantle that place with my own hands!"
"Then I will have to insist on coming with you as well," Allise suddenly spoke up. Everyone looked at her with shock and she shrugged. "I too was also sentenced to the Dark Chasm. Though I wasn't there as long as the four of you were, it still wasn't a pleasant experience for me. I want to personally see to its end as well."
"All right, that's three volunteers," Caesar said.
"I'll go too," Gunther quickly said, but Caesar shook his head. "Remember Gunther, that you're commanding one of the ground units attacking from above. I can't send you with Lord Daunte when you have a unit to take care of."
"Oh. Right." Gunther slightly deflated, but Daunte knew he had volunteered more for Allise's sake than anything else.
"My Lord, you have the option to take two more people with you," Caesar said, regaining Daunte's attention. "Who would you like it to be?"
Daunte thought about it for a long moment before deciding. "Priscilla, because of her own military experience."
"Good choice," Caesar said. "And the last person?"
Daunte looked to Farzin. "You…You said you had combat experience, right?"
The room shifted with shock that Daunte requested the aid of an ex-Cleric for reconnaissance. Farzin however held up a thick book. "There is a lot of power behind books."
Daunte nodded. "You're still in your Cleric robes. I want the children of the Dark Chasm to see you, so that they know that not all of the Clerics are corrupt."
"Well, that's…a nice gesture," Farzin said. "I would be happy to assist."
"Oh!" Caesar shouted, startling everyone. He slammed his fist into his palm. "I almost forgot! I haven't given you your present yet!"
"Present?" Daunte asked.
"My present to you to congratulate you on your promotion, Lord Daunte," Caesar said. "I've been meaning to give it to you, but there hasn't been the right time!"
"Y-You don't need to give me anything. I—"
"No, I insist!" Caesar shook his head. "How about this; I'll give it to you during the siege!"
Daunte blinked. Give him a present during the siege on the Dark Chasm? What was Caesar playing at?
He's my strategist however, so there must be a reason he's withholding this "present" from me.
Daunte nodded in agreement, if for nothing else than to put up appearances. "All right then. I'll anticipate this present during the siege."
"So now that we have our plan, I believe we are ready to move out," Caesar said. "Are you ready, my Lord?"
Daunte nodded. "Let's go and liberate the Dark Chasm!"
The room cheered, which startled Daunte slightly. But he was very happy with the enthusiasm his soldiers showed with this campaign. I will succeed. I won't make them regret appointing me as leader!
The Army separated and marched towards the Dark Chasm. They arrived within three days, which stunned Daunte as he expected them to run into interference along the way. Other than tougher monsters to face on the road, there was little to no incident.
They regrouped fifteen kilometers away from the Dark Cham, and Daunte was relieved to see the entire Army arrive unscathed. With all of their current losses and even with the return of the deserters, their current standing Army had barely three hundred soldiers serving. But Daunte refused to be disheartened by their small numbers.
There are over three hundred children in the Dark Chasm. Once we invade, the guards and the soldiers will be outnumbered.
"All right Lord Daunte, this is your cue," Caesar told him. "We'll wait an hour after your group enters to send the soldiers in. The rest will wait for your signal. Once we know that you have breached the Dark Chasm, we will attack from above. However, if we don't receive word that you have arrived within three hours, we will march in regardless. Are you prepared?"
Daunte nodded. "We've stocked supplies with Cairoh, and Gusoku provided us new armor. I'm going to leave markers in the form of dragon incense in the middle of the hallways for the soldiers to follow. The incense will heal anyone's wounds, as there are monsters down there, and since the air is stagnant the scent will not travel far and with any luck guide our soldiers where they need to go."
Caesar nodded. "Good. I have given you all your plan, now if you'll excuse me…" he promptly turned his horse northward. "I'll see you all later."
"Wait, what?!" Gunther sputtered. "Y-You're not leading up into battle?! Where are you going?!"
Caesar grinned at him. "I'm getting Lord Daunte his "present". I promised to give it to him during the siege, after all."
"In that case, can you take Arin with you?" Daunte suddenly asked, pulling the child forward. "I don't want him caught in the middle of the fight."
"Daunte, I'll be all right!" Arin protested.
"I'll gladly take him with me," Caesar said. He directed his horse to kneel. "Come, Arin. We're going to do something great for your big brother."
Arin huffed out a sigh, but climbed behind Caesar on the horse. Daunte himself let out a short sigh as the horse straightened. Whatever Caesar was planning on giving to him couldn't have been too dangerous if he allowed Arin to come along for it.
"You all know what to do," Caesar announced. "Wait for our lordship's signal! This operation is very important, as we will be foreseeing the destruction of the Theocracy's symbol of fear! What they use to bully the people into submission! Today, we will succeed!"
The Army cheered, and Caesar gave a wave as he rode off with Arin. Daunte nodded to Gunther. "See you on the inside."
"Be careful, my Lord," Gunther said. Many other shouted encouragements to Daunte as they marched towards the entrance of the ruins. Each meter that they got closer to the ruins, Daunte's heart began pounding harder and harder in his throat. He couldn't believe this moment was real. Finally—Finally they were liberating the Dark Chasm, and ending the suffering of all those children!
I never once thought that I would be the one leading this campaign.
Thankfully there was no ambush when they reached the entrance of the cave. There were no new monsters as they walked down the long tunnel that led into the throne room where they had made their escape what felt like eons ago. It felt like it happened another lifetime ago, and Daunte was overwhelmed being back.
"The entrance should be behind the throne," Roen said, pointing to the area in question. Indeed, there was still an opening in the wall. He looked at Daunte. "But the way we got out—we fell into the ruins via a sinkhole. They probably sealed the sinkhole up."
"That's true," Felicity said. "But there has to be another way around. We were more concerned about fleeing the place to properly explore it."
"I agree," Daunte said. "And we should avoid retracing our steps anyway. It took us a day and a half to get out of here. We have three hours to get into the Dark Chasm before the siege begins. There should be many hidden doorways, so we should look for them."
"Agreed," Allise said.
Armed with torches, they quickly began re-exploring the ruins. Daunte expected to see the same rats, spiders, and other monsters they had encountered from the last time they were in there. Their skills had greatly improved since then, so he had expected the return to be much easier.
So he was very shocked to find that the monsters were larger, and much tougher than before. When they were last there, one single Bronze Sun almost killed. Now they were facing two or three Bronze Suns at a time in battle. The rats were larger too, more rabid, as were the spiders. And to Daunte's incredible horror, they even encountered walking corpses down there!
How? Why are these fights so much more difficult than they were before? I-It doesn't seem possible that the population of monsters down here would change so drastically in less than a year!
However, everyone kept their cool and continued to fight. And to Daunte's shock, Farzin really was fighting with a hardcover book! The ex-Cleric used the book to beat the monsters they faced, though the sight of it was slightly absurd. However, he also made use of a Cyclone Rune attached to his left hand, which was slightly less absurd.
Daunte made sure to leave the dragon incense as markers as they traveled. However, dread filled him as he realized that forty-five minutes had passed, and all they had to show for it was constant fighting and wandering. He started to get very worried they wouldn't make it in time, and he cursed himself for not having enough foresight to ask Caesar for more time to explore.
I can't give up! We must keep pushing forward!
Luckily, things began turning in their favor. They checked the walls for secret doors, and thankfully Allise found one in one of the hallways. They stepped into the room and what they saw caused Daunte's jaw to drop.
It was an exotic-looking mining cart. It looked nothing like the mining carts from within the Dark Chasm. Even the rail track it was on looked different. He quickly looked to his right, and saw a long hallway into darkness.
"Well, this should save us some much needed time," Allise said.
"This…is weird," Felicity said. "Why is this here? How is it that the rails and the wheels aren't rusted over?"
"Whatever the reason, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth," Roen said, quickly climbing into the cart. "Let's hurry!"
Daunte also questioned the logic of this cart being there in the middle of a damp ruin, but he shrugged it off and climbed into the front. Priscilla pulled the lever in the back, and Daunte suddenly had whiplash as the cart sprung to life and immediately whipped down the track.
Roen and Felicity screamed, and they all hung on for dear life as the cart flew down the long, straight track at lightning speed. And while Daunte was happy that this reduced their travel time, he was afraid that they would crash at the end of the track. "P…Priscilla!" he shouted behind him. "W-When I tell you too, pull the brake!"
"R-Right!" Priscilla shouted back to him.
After ten minutes of travel, Daunte saw light at the end of the tunnel. "NOW!" he shouted.
Priscilla immediately pulled the brake lever. Daunte gagged as he slammed into the front of the cart, and Allise and Roen slammed into him as the cart abruptly slowed to a crawl. They reached the end of the track, where the cart gently bumped the bumper at the end of the track. They took a moment to catch their breaths and got out of the cart onto wobbly legs.
"Our reinforcements should be entering the ruins now," Allise said, clearing her throat. She looked around them and frowned. "And…we reached a dead end."
Indeed, their destination was a circular room without a door. But Daunte wasn't deterred, and sure enough they found another secret door directly in front of the cart. When they entered the new room it revealed, he immediately recognized it. "This!" he shouted. "T-This is where we found the True Rune!"
"We're definitely close now!" Felicity declared. "Let's hurry!"
The corridors were still dark, but Daunte and his friends remembered enough the way to do. Daunte however felt incredibly foolish that they hadn't thought to look for a hidden door in the room when they were last down there.
Then again, what would I have done with it?
Within ten minutes, they reached another dead end. But Daunte looked closely at their surroundings. The hole was missing from the high wall, but this was undoubtedly the room he had fallen into. He nodded to his party. "This is it."
"They must have found the hole you had created and sealed it," Felicity said.
"Oh, there it is," Allise said, pointing with a torch. Daunte looked in that direction and saw a section of packed dirt in the wall surrounded by stone. Allise smiled at him. "My Lord, shall I use the Pale Gate Rune to reopen it?"
"I…think that would be excessive," Daunte said reluctantly. He looked to Roen. "Can you focus your Fire Rune on that wall? We'll have to be careful, it's still the middle of the workday."
"Absolutely," Roen said. He took position and raised his hand. "Flaming Arrows!" He concentrated the attack on that wall, and the poorly repaired wall immediately collapsed.
There was a shout on the other side of the wall as light filtered into the secret room, and two faces immediately came to the new hole. "W-What the—Daunte!" one of the children shouted. "And Roen and Felicity, too?!"
Daunte's stomach turned when he saw the teenage boy and preteen girl standing there. Both of them were pale and had gaunt, hollow faces. Granted he hadn't exactly looked healthy when he left the Dark Chasm, but these two looked far worse than Daunte remembered his fellow prisoners looking. "We're back," he called up to them. "We're here to liberate the Dark Chasm."
The girl shrieked, but clapped both hands over her mouth. The boy's expression turned deathly serious. "One moment." He quickly disappeared from sight.
"Where is he going?" Roen wondered aloud.
"D-Daunte, do you mean it?" the girl whispered down to them. "You're really here to rescue us?" there were tears in her voice, and Daunte saw teardrops fall from her eyes and into the hole.
"O-Of course I am," Daunte told her. "I promised I would be back, and here I am."
"Oh Daunte, it's been awful!" the girl suddenly wailed, her voice echoing into the room. "They—They—We've been given almost no food, they given us longer hours to work, and t-t-t-the beatings!" she was on the verge of hysteria. "T-They've allowed the guards to carry scourge whips to beat us!"
"WHAT?!" Allise shrieked. Her shout of horror and anger startled Daunte, but the girl's words caused bile to rise in his throat. O-Oh no. I knew things had to be bad for everyone after we escaped, but…Damn it! Damn it all! We should've come sooner!
"I've seen what a scourge does to a human back," Priscilla said, shuddering slightly. "Just thinking of what it could do to a child…" she shuddered.
"I don't hear you cretins working back there!" a guard shouted from above. "You—WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
The boy suddenly returned and tossed a long, thick roll of coarse rope down to them. "He's coming. We'll hold him off, but please hurry and get up here!"
Daunte didn't even wait for him to finish. The rope barely hit the floor when her grabbed it and began frantically climbing up the rope. It had a considerable amount of slack to it that made him nervous, however. "One at a time!" he warned his companions. "The rope isn't strong enough to hold more than one of us at a time!"
The girl above them shrieked, and Daunte heard the unmistakable sounds of a fistfight. "Oh, so the punk wants to play rough?!" the guard hollered. "Let me oblige!" he blew his whistle, and Daunte instinctively flinched as unpleasant memories surfaced in his mind.
"Daunte, hurry!" Felicity shouted below him as the fighting above rose in volume and ferocity.
Daunte didn't need to be told twice. He reached the mouth of the hole, just in time to witness three guards surrounding the boy who had given him the rope, alternating between curb-stomping him and beating him with a scourge. He was curled in a fetal position, protecting his head, while the girl screamed and sobbed.
Daunte saw red, and shouted in rage. "GET OFF HIM!" he was so angry at the sight of the guards beating the boy that he raised his right hand. "Berate!"
The guards screamed in terror and agony as Daunte's spell rained down upon them. Within seconds they were bruised and bleeding. One guard froze when he saw Daunte. "You—!"
"There was an accident with the mining carts this afternoon. Your roommate Kass was crushed when his cart derailed. A fitting end for a blasphemous traitor like him."
This was the guard who had callously told Daunte that Kass had died. Unable to help himself, Daunte launched himself forward and punched the guard square in the face, putting as much force behind his tekko as possible. He felt the man's nose break, in addition to several of his teeth, but the blow did little to quell the rage inside of him.
"I-INTRUDERS!" another guard shouted. He grabbed the severely injured one as he howled in pain. "There are intru—OOF!" he was struck square in the head with a shovel and fell to the ground unconscious.
"I've been waiting years to do that!" the wielder of the shovel rasped. She was a teenage girl, surely Daunte's age, but being overworked and underfed gave her the appearance of someone two or three years younger. She looked to Daunte and the rest of the group as they climbed out of the hole. "Please tell me there are more than six of you."
"There are," Daunte reassured her. Felicity and Allise bent down to check on the fallen boy. "The Liberation Army is ready to move. We're not leaving until all of you are liberated."
"You'll never get away with this!" the third guard shouted. "You traitorous, evil children! You…" his voice trailed off as he suddenly found himself by the rest of the children within the tunnel. All of them were armed with their work tools, and all of them looked upon him with rage.
"By Nagar, this is horrendous!" Farzin exclaimed, looking at the physical condition of the children. "I-I had heard rumors, but this…this is worse than anything I could've ever imagined! There is no way that Nagar would ever approve of His children being worked to death like this!"
"Are you all right?" Daunte asked, helping the injured boy to stand. Behind him the other were proceeding to exact vengeance upon the guards, but he deliberately ignored it. "I'm sorry. I should've come soon—"
"You're here now, that's what matters," the boy rasped. He looked towards the hole. "Is that a way out?"
"Yes," Daunte said. "It's a ruin. We left markers for all of you to evacuate through, and soldiers were following behind. We have healers on standby to take care of you all, so if you move now you can meet up with the soldiers."
"W-What?" Roen said suddenly. "The ruin is full of monsters. Is it really a good idea to evacuate the Dark Chasm through this?"
"I don't care how many damned monsters I have to fight!" the boy shouted, grabbing a pick axe. "There is nothing that is going to keep me here!" he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. "Let's get out of here!"
The other children immediately stopped beating the guards and hurried to the rope. "We've got this," another girl said. "But there's still over three hundred of us you have to save!"
"Yeah, let's hurry and get this over with," Roen said. "Everyone's suffered long enough."
Daunte nodded. "Let's go!" they raced past the severely injured guards and towards the main area of the Chasm. Predictably, their commotion drew the attention of guards, and nine were ready to engage them in combat. "Prepare to die!"
"Best Friends!" Daunte shouted, mobilizing for their unite attack. Despite being outnumbered, they soundly beat the guards that had engaged them. Daunte realized however he was taking far too much joy to beating these awful people who had made his life a living hell for three years, and quickly refocused himself. "Children of the Dark Chasm!" he shouted up the mineshaft. From above and below them, the children and even the guards had stopped what they were doing to gape at them. "I am Daunte! Leader of the Liberation Army and former prisoner of the Dark Chasm! We are here to liberate you all!"
For a moment, the children stared at him stunned. As did the guards. However, the children recovered quicker than guards.
"We're free!" one girl shouted, and quickly struck the closest guard with her shovel. Barely a breath later, the entire mineshaft erupted into shouts and then suddenly everyone was fighting. The guards became overwhelmed by the starving, overworked children who attacked them with their tools. Some even stole batons, whips, and scourges and used them on the guards. Soon, the entire mineshaft was consumed by a violent riot.
"Please, everyone!" Daunte tried to appeal for calm. "Leave this to the Liberation Army soldiers! Please, come down to Tier Seven to evacuate!" But less than thirty children listened to him and came down to evacuate. The rest were too caught up in their anger and grief to listen.
"Well it looks like might not need the reinforcements after all," Allise said blithely. There was a shriek from above, and right before their eyes a guard plummeted down the mineshaft. "I've seen that happen a few times to other children," she said grimly.
"I'm amazed they have the energy to fight like this," Farzin said.
"Anger does amazing things to your adrenaline," Felicity said.
A sharp whistle filled the air, and Daunte hollered as an explosion of lightning struck Tier Five, striking two dozen children. The screams of pain reverberated the mineshaft, and the rioting abruptly halted.
"Thank you for proving me right, boy."
Daunte stiffened at this voice. Oh no…
He looked up. There she was—the Matron, on Tier One. She was surrounded by fifty soldiers on either side of her, totaling one hundred. All of them were armed with bows and arrows, and all of them were pointed down towards them.
"Congratulations on your promotion to leader of the Liberation Army," the Matron called down to Daunte. "And thank you for personally appearing in the Dark Chasm to save the heathens. That will make killing you, and taking the Rune of Restoration, all the easier for me."
"We're not alone!" Daunte shouted, but he found himself jostled back as Roen and Felicity took protective stances in front of him. "The Liberation Army is about to advance here, and I have soldiers coming up from the ruins beneath us! If you want to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, surrender now!"
"I find all of this hard to believe," the Matron responded. "Considering Sheikh Nuori is about to ambush your soldiers before they even arrive."
Daunte's blood ran cold. No…that couldn't be possible! None of the scouts said anything about Sheikh Nuori ambushing them!
"And as for the soldiers coming up from the Sindar ruins," the Matron said. "Right before coming to this spot I unleashed a considerable supply of terrible things down there to greet them. Isn't that the exact same area you're evacuating the children to?"
Daunte felt light-headed. How…How could this have happened? His very first mission, and he's killed the very people he was trying to protect and save!
I'm a failure. What was I thinking, agreeing to lead an entire Army?!
"But," the Matron continued. "I will put a halt to all these things—Sheikh Nuori's ambush, the monsters in the ruins—if you give me your True Rune. If you don't, then your Army will be slaughtered and I will be forced to continue using my Rune to hurt these children you're trying so hard to save." She raised her right hand and Daunte saw it glow. He then remembered the blast from earlier, and how similar it had been to the assault the Matron had laid upon them when they escaped, and he knew she had struck those children with the spell. "Sound like a fair deal?"
Daunte suddenly became angry, and snapped his teeth. "Maybe I should use the True Rune to kill you!" he bellowed out.
The Matron threw back her head and laughed loudly. He still could not see her face, but he saw her steely gaze look back down at him as she recovered. "As if you could ever hope of killing me! You've lost, boy! Just give up, because you have no hope of defeating me!"
"Then why don't we change that?"
Daunte stiffened, and he saw the Matron's eyes go wide. She quickly spun around and looked upwards towards the top of the Dark Chasm. One by one, the other soldiers did as well. Daunte followed their gaze, and sucked in a sharp breath.
"Well, it looks like you're all having fun," Keiran Umed called down to them. His sword was unsheathed. "Do you mind if we join in?"
The moment he finished that sentence, soldiers emerged on all sides of him, framing the large hole at the top. Mihr stepped up to Keiran's left side and unsheathed his own sword. Daunte looked around the circumference of the Dark Chasm in shock. None of the soldiers, including Keiran and Mihr, were in uniform, but he recognized their faces. These were all Sheikh Umed's men. He even saw Lanny standing with the soldiers!
W-What? Is Sheikh Keiran Umed…he's here to HELP us?!
"Ahhhhh." The crowd of soldiers parted and Caesar stepped forward, holding onto Arin's hands. He was positively grinning. "I love it when a plan comes together."