—— If you skipped the last chapter from the Content Warning here is the basics of what happened. Raven and company are now watching the outside of the building. Ramjack was forced to kill a badly infected hillsec by having his new friends threatened. Raven and Mazen captured a hillsec hunter for interrogation ——

  It was several hours before anyone came to the hideout. Raven saw Jace’s slow approach when he was almost on top of her. The prisoner had been fairly quiet this whole time, sitting tied to a tree. The paracrest had floated the occasional ball of water before the hillsec’s face, not wanting to risk her hands near the mouth. As docile as the cultist was behaving she knew that such sharp carved teeth could be very dangerous for her.

  “I don’t think this one’s friends will be coming.” Jace said in way of greeting.

  Raven got up from her own spot, nodding. “Did no one notice this one was gone?”

  “Oh it’s not that. They might have but if they did they went the wrong way and encountered… and issue.” He actually laughed.

  “What kind of issue?” Raven asked, removing the rope from the tree and pulling the prisoner up.

  “I saw a bunch of them, even ones in just black robes, heading north after one of the hunters came back. Less of them returned but when they did they were carrying the body of a velkamir. Looks like they found a baby one too and were dragging that one in alive.”

  “A velkamir?! This far south?”

  “Yea, would have thought it was a myth if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. My guess is there are a few dead hillsec who ran into her.”

  Raven shook her head slowly. She’d seen one once penned up in Terath. A rich merchant’s ‘pet’. It was only half grown but those claws were still pretty wicked. She had thankfully never ran into one in the wild since she’d never been past the northern barrier mountains. They were supposedly common up in Invirech.

  “Well, it’s the cult’s problem now. Come on, help me move this one so we can keep a better eye on them.” She carefully wrapped cloth around the hillsec’s eyes but left their mouth free this time.

  “Alright. If we leave them here and there’s another velkamir in the area I’d feel bad not to give them a fighting chance.”

  The prisoner was quiet during the escort. The only sound they made was the occasional whimper. There were several rooms in the ruin they were camped in and Raven was able to secure their guest in one. With any luck when the rest of the adventuring teams got here they would be able to find a better place to keep the hillsec safely but for now it would do.

  ——————

  I was pleased to be back to translations that morning. Part of me figured that was the point of the tests. Not just to test my archery skill and keep me in line with threats to my new friends, but to show me how much better obeying in the lab was. I wanted to succumb to hate of it all but I pushed those emotions to the side as I worked. I needed to keep my spirits up where I could or I’d be a mess on the floor again. That would do Mildred and Camphus no good. If something happened to me they might be pulled from ‘serving’ duty and turned into test subjects.

  I had no doubt they would find a way to escape if they were left as nearly invisible servants, but if they were put in cells and infected with whatever it was that was infecting those rabbits and that hillsec there would be no chance. At one point, sometime past lunch of my stomach was any indication, a hillsec guard entered the room, bowing his head to Astaril.

  “Sir, the high cleric has requested your presence. He would like you to evaluate a find. A special beast that peaked his interest.”

  “Oh, what kind of beast?” The researcher put down the notes he was examining. I ceased my own work but kept my eyes on the book, just twisting my ears to hear everything.

  “A velkamir cub. Its mother killed several of our hunters before she could be taken down but we found a live cub with her. The high cleric would like it checked over before seeing if it can be trained.”

  Astaril let out a long hissy sigh. “A velkamir… of course that would stir the high cleric.” He said that so low I doubted the guard heard him at all. “Very well, I will go and evaluate it.”

  The researcher came closer to where I was, letting me see him. “You will stay here and finish these pages. Do not try to leave the room, the guards outside will know. If your work is not done I will have to assume you used your time in here poorly.” He didn’t bother to spell out the threat. I gulped.

  “Understood.” I told him.

  He slithered off then and I could still hear him muttering, “Of course Velkcathus wants a velkamir for a pet. What was his namer thinking to imbue him with such a name?” And both he and the guard left the room.

  I filed that away with interest as I worked, picking up speed. I hadn’t been working as fast as I could have before, only to the speed he expected. This was my only real opportunity. I needed to examine the lab while he was gone, but also had to get the work done.

  Moving at my fastest, yet most careful, pace I finished. My wrists and hands were cramping something awful and I hadn’t read a single word during the transfers but it would be perfect for his expected. Just to be safe in case he came in faster than I believed I shoved the last two pages into my robe before beginning my exploration.

  The lab was a pretty sterile environment. No eating was allowed in here, but also none of the infected. There were samples and equipment but they were carefully arranged to avoid direct contact with anything. I knew better than to pick things up that I did not understand. Astaril had gloves to handle some things with, gloves that would not fit my hands.

  What I really wanted was notes. I peered down at some of them on one table. It had a list of colors and effects. Interesting as I had seen this for myself. Red seemed to increase anger. Orange had some sort of fire effect. Green looked like spores, potion perhaps? That’s what the charts listed. But I saw something else too. Something that confirmed my silly suspicion from earlier. This wasn’t a list of boils or anything like I expected. The word ‘Crystal Colors’ stood out with a twisting in my gut.

  Crystal. Infection. Just like what I read about on the jar scroll. Did they really have the people from Terath’s lost expedition here? What had started as a silly thought about narrative links now made me laugh. I did not understand how these things connected but I guessed that there was an important link I had yet to see. It was still strange how I ended up in the middle of it though.

  —————

  Mildred and Camphus were waiting for me when I was escorted back to our room. It had been several hours before Astaril had returned to the lab and he looked frustrated. I had spent my time there alone wisely, doing a bit more work than he had expected to make it look like I had no time to snoop. I had also only examined things on the surface without touching and secured some information in Vazack script that no one but me could read.

  “I think something happened to some of the hunters.” Mildred told me as we sat down to dinner, “I couldn’t understand what the guards were saying but I saw some were injured in the halls and instead of deer and rabbits they just brought in a huge corpse of some creature with an aulterun like head.

  Camphus hooted in disgust. “It was clearly a velkamir, and they do not look that much like us in the heads.”

  “I heard the guards talk to the researcher talk about one while I was in the lab. Astaril even got pulled out for a few hours to evaluate a cub. I don’t know what they are though.”

  “They are a saurian species from north of the great barrier mountains. Sometimes baby ones get smuggled down south for zoos or as pets. They get pretty big and can kill you with a paw swipe though so unless you have a skill that deals with animals they are terrible pet choices.” Camphus explained.

  “Saurian?” Mildred pursed her lips, “I guess though its body looked like it was covered in fur instead of feathers. Just feathers on the head.”

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Nope, all feathers. The body feathers are just very thin.”

  What a strange sounding creature. I filed the information away for later. The adults of such a being were to be avoided, especially if they could take out a hunting party. “I learned a lot today myself.” I added, “Since the whole velkamir thing got the researcher to leave the lab I was able to poke around a bit. Found out about the infection and it isn’t good.” And I told them about the jar scroll. About the reconstruction that first crossed my path with Raven’s.

  “Sounds like the cult might have some connections to the library.” Camphus suggested.

  My ears flattened at that. I didn’t want to think anyone I worked with could have ties to this cult but what else could this be? Still, my instincts said I was missing something. Some piece of evidence that would explain everything. “Maybe. I am sure though that they found out about the vault from the repository auction.”

  “The what?” Mildred’s face did a weird crinkle thing when she looked at me.

  “Uh well, the bunker had a vault that the adventurers found. I told you this didn’t I?”

  “Yes, you said how much you hated being underground in windowless spaces. That Raven helped you.” Camphus bobbed her head.

  “Yes well there was a vault door at the bottom that they couldn’t open with what they had. But there were also records and magical repositories. The repositories had recordings of what happened 1500 years ago. I’m actually surprised that common hasn’t changed much in that time since I was able to understand them.” I shook my head, “Besides the point right now. One recording showed that they had sealed demons into that vault along with various treasures. Once it was shown to the Adventuring Guild they stopped trying to open it.”

  “So the cult bought the information and decided to open it themselves?” Mildred asked.

  “Looks that way. Maybe they had a key. There was talk in the recording about an outsider. I think it is the same person this cult calls ‘The Master’ who taught them Alliance Standard and how to build some machines.”

  The two listened as I told them more about the things I had discovered. About the bunker, about the Jar and its scroll. The probable connections. “I don’t know for certain if they have them but I suspect that they kidnapped the infected adventurers from Terath and that is how they have the sample to begin with. Just, there is something off about my theory. I don’t know why it feels off but it does.”

  We lapsed into silence after that, just finishing our meals. “I think I might have made an ally.” Camphus said, changing the subject.

  We both looked at her as the aulterun went on, “I think her name is Ansiss. I have been teaching her a few words in common. Names of objects.”

  “I started off that way too.” I told her, thinking back to my first few days in Dacathus. “Now let me teach you some more in Alliance Standard to help balance it out.”

  ——————————

  It was another day before anyone from the guild showed up at their postilion. A small civith, following her nose, showed up and carefully whispered a code word provided via the message book. Raven let her in, examining the small woman. The [Scout] was covered in light brown fur, darkening towards her wide flat tail. Her ears and nose twitched as she brushed herself off from skulking through the grass.

  “Pleased to see you lot here. What is the report?” The civith asked.

  “No one seems to be patrolling outside. Every few hours a group of three hunters in brown trimmed black robes leaves, all hillsec. They often come back with what look like stasis sacks and dead rabbits or deer. Yesterday more than that came back looking rough, some missing from my count, with a dead adult velkamir and a live cub. We also took one of the hunters prisoner and have them secured here but they do not speak common.”

  “How hard was it to subdue the hunter?”

  “Not hard. I think they are young, possibly not yet adult and the other hunters at a distance looked the same. They should be easy to capture if taken unaware. It is not clear that the hunters themselves know what happened in Dacathus. These aren’t bandits we’re dealing with, I think there are a lot of civilians inside but it is hard to tell who might fight back.”

  “Did you get inside? What makes you think that?”

  Jace decided to cut in at this point while Mazen stayed quiet, just watching the interchange. “From the hunting, and from the language. We also talked to professor Thaliss and she seemed to have dealings with members of this cult. There are enough of them to send out as scouts or to join the school. Perhaps ones taught common, but the hunters I don’t think qualify for that. They are just the ones going out to get food every day. So there are likely a bunch of people in there that have nothing to do with the cult’s activities outside of surviving. They might fight if attacked but if they can be captured it would be better. No stories about Adventurers massacring civilians.”

  From time to time such a thing did happen, usually when bandits were part of a full tribal group instead of just being raiders. Then adventurers focused on the quest to take out the bandits could just kill everyone in the area instead of caring about the guilty. It honestly made the guild look bad when that happened. There were towns and villages between Dacathus and Varcalis that didn’t want the guild to operate in their area and instead employee only guards for defense because of it.

  The civith nodded, sitting on her hind legs with her eyes firmly on Jace. “We have ropes for bindings. We are authorized to take prisoners and bring them back to Dacathus for trial. Now, how many ways into the building?”

  Raven reestablished herself as the one talking at that point, “Just the one which has black robed guards but they often stay inside. I have never seen them patrol, just come outside from time to time and look around from the archway. The only windows are up in the tower.” She paused in her tale a moment, lifting her head in thought, “One more thing we noticed. Most of the nights we’ve been here there have been brief emissions of white light up into the sky from that tower. Something is going on in there and we have no idea what.”

  The civith’s head swiveled to her, nose twitching. “And no one has scouted the windows?”

  “We’re not skilled climbers. There is also a chance that while the outside of the building at ground level is not warded that the tower could have some magical defenses to contend with.”

  “Alright. Noted. I will send some of the teams in here with a plan. Likely it will involve subduing the hunters we find out there. What is their responses like?”

  “Actually, we hit a snag with that. The day we captured the hunter is the same day that a group of them ran into a velkamir. Not sure if they realized that they lost someone else since I’m guessing some of the hunters were killed. But the activity we saw because of the velkamir had more hunters and a few of the no trimmed ones leaving the archway.”

  “Good. We can draw them out without them knowing it is us.”

  Raven nodded as well. “Alright. We’ll get some rest here so we can be ready to move. How many will be joining our team?”

  “I will talk it over with the other teams but likely three. We will send them here with the orders for your team alright?”

  “Understood. Be safe getting back.”

  The civith raised a fuzzy brow, nose twitching even more before nodding and scampering back out through the door. And just like that the group had to wait, but at least they knew It was almost time.

  ———————————————

  I was working in the lab again, going over the research notes when several of the guards came in. Astaril spun around from the bench he was working on and hissed in irritation at them. “What is the meaning of this? I am in the middle of delicate experiments here.”

  “Please forgive me Researcher,” One of the guards bowed, “But the High Cleric would like to see you and your new assistant. We are to serve as escorts.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that as I put down the pages I was writing. The High Cleric, the one in charge of the cult. And he’d asked to see me. Dread was pooling into my stomach even as I heard Astaril’s complaints.

  “Again?” He muttered, “I’m too busy to deal with this.” Speaking in low tones that undoubtedly the guard could not hear. I didn’t let on that I could hear either, guessing he never paid attention to my ears. He was always so focused on my classes, levels, and the skills those gave and not what I could do without.

  “Ramjack, come.” He ordered as I moved slowly to his side, “You must be on your best behavior now.” He didn’t need to add the threats, we both knew what he would do if I stepped out of line.

  The corridors were silent as I was escorted along, going up a spiral ramp this time. Up and up we went till I saw something I hadn’t seen in a long while now, sunlight. It flooded into a large room from the windows on every wall and the vast skylight above. There, positioned under the skylight was a pedestal of some kind with what looked like a chunk of nearly clear quartz with a purple and green base and three large struts tipped in red.

  That was the first thing that caught my attention, mesmerizing me in and instant. It seemed to glow with its own light, pulsing like it was alive but surely that was just a trick of the sunlight beating down on it. Then, I saw something shocking. There was a large mirror placed a few feet away from the crystal. Attached to the mirror at the top and mirrored with metal design on the sides was an Alliance device I knew well. Every space tourist had one or something like it for survival. While it did far more than just what the name suggested everyone called it a scanner. It scanned foods to see if they were safe for the individual to speak. Languages to help where Alliance Standard failed. Air to see if it was breathable. Saved information. It could even talk to people long distance.

  I gaped at it for so long I did not see the large red hillsec staring down at me. Not till Astaril smacked the back of my head for attention. Then I looked up at the massive man. He was far bigger than any hillsec I had seen before. Likely the large end of his peoples’ growth. Long body that could easily curl around me if he wanted but also wide. Strong enough to move himself around at least with a face made for being both stern and predatory.

  “So this is the one that understands the old texts?” He hissed, looking me over.

  “Yes, High Cleric.” Astaril straightened himself out, bottom arms folded as he left one of his top hands on my shoulder, “He is doing good work with full translations of the texts that match our old translations.”

  “Good.” Even as the high cleric focused on me I felt my own eyes drift back to the mirror, finally noticing something else. There were words flashing over the mirror, like a dedicated screen. The scanner was still in some kind of working condition! That was so amazing I forgot to be scared for a moment till I noticed that the high cleric was looking in the same direction.

  “Can you read that child?” He hissed.

  “Yes.” I said, swallowing. I doubted that they were going to like it. On the screen, constantly flashing were the words in Alliance Standard ‘Just what do you idiots think you are doing over there? Respond so I know you still have the communication equipment I left behind’.