Hours later, Jan and Laura sat beside a campfire. Sleep wasn’t a priority. Kiff and Laundre haunted their every waking thought. Apart from that, hunger took them, a teething, biting, grasping feeling that shook their stomachs. Like a wild animal scratching at the insides and urging towards something, anything to quench the burning sensation. Their throats turned coarse with saliva as their limbs weakened. Most soldiers had already finished their rations but they tried making soup out of roots and tree sap collected from the pit’s edges. Each morsel almost teased the satisfaction of relief and in the end, the bitter construction was little to no help. They talked for awhile about what they would need to do upon their return. The state of the imperium was worse then predicted if officials like Laundre could be silently replaced without reason.

  Paxter ordered them to make more soups using the rations but it ended up being more of a watered down gruel of potatoes, roots and mush with the bread being the only real sustenance. Still no rations were awarded to Jan or Laura. A few soldiers looked guilty but he refused when they offered. Even if it meant pain, at least hunger was a good distraction. They were too busy starving to realize the depths of the situation. It had only been a day since they last ate and Jan still shuddered. He could hardly imagine what the others must have felt. He had told Laura and Paxter about the Primelord, including that the Dalious said his name. Both simply chalked it up to his position but Laura paid interest when he described how Sill had called them “enemies” instead of jannics. Sadly, when pressed the stone only spat out words like redacted or sizzling whirls. Jan attributed it to a tormented past. When questioned about Crous’s involvement in Laundre’s death, little to no information was revealed.

  Aloat was still on the boulder.

  She must have been cold too, it was pretty chilly at night regardless of the weather but Jan swore her pupils were wide and staring into the distance.

  “The fact that the Primelord checked you is likely due to your status Jan, that could be good, it might mean a ransom.” He said with a heavy breath.

  “What did the dalious say again? In six days you’ll find out what?” Laura added.

  “Not the Dalious, the Primelord, and he also mentioned something about sleeping.”

  They all paused at this. Laura wrote it all down and fidgeted with her quill, placing the tip on each word before she spoke.

  “Do you think whatever is controlling the parasites is asleep right now?” Laura interjected.

  Her eyes shifted back and forth as they sat. The other two shrugged, and another imperial soldier leaned in closer.

  “Asleep? That’s good. It means we have time to get out of here. All we do know is we need to get out of here before six days are up.” the other scribe spoke quickly.

  “So we’re going to make a plan right? Because there's no way I’m dying here” Laura inquired.

  She perched herself on the rock as she spoke. Paxter responded in turn.

  “We’re working on it.”

  “Surely you must have a plan?” Laura added.

  Jan too perked forward and they spoke in hushed whispers.

  “We could always make one!”

  “No need for Plan Commanders, ANALYZING 60%, JANNIC PLAN TO LIKELY FAIL, CURRENTLY DEVISING FOOL PROOF PLAN, 60%”

  Both Laura and Jan heard this but not Paxter. They ignored the rock and cast a glance at the Lieutenant. He leaned back and stoked the fire with a burned stick.

  “No, no, you two have been here a day! I’ve been here far longer and of course were having a plan!” He shouted back, almost laughing.

  “So what is it?” Laura asked.

  She edged forward with a mixed expression plastered on her face.

  “Wow, you two really can’t wait, tunnel, we’re making a tunnel.”

  “A tunnel?”

  “The idea is simple. There are caves all over Dawnshire. A few days ago we ran into one in the south-west section of the pit and turns out we found one. Only it’s thirty feet in the air”

  “You found an exit!” Jan exclaimed.

  He may have said it a little too loudly as the rest of the group shushed him in an instant. Quiet settled in, and they continued to speak over hushed whispers. The others listened in, desperate for both false hope and a way to distract from hunger.

  “Look this pit is huge, there’s no way the ratlings can even hear that we’re speaking.”

  The others shrugged, acting almost out of instinct.

  “Okay, okay it’s just this is all the hope I could give the troops….” Paxter responded slowly.

  “When do we escape?” Jan asked. He cut him off but felt awkward as the Lieutenant shuffled around the fire.

  “Tomorrow, maybe….we put in the final lines today.”

  “That fast!” Laura almost jumped for joy.

  “Look, the more ropes we pull out for the climb the less Watchers we can produce. The cave barely takes us two hundred feet away. It’ll be a running start and without horses almost a slaughter if they notice we’re gone.”

  “It’s still hope,” She responded.

  The mood brightened around the campfire, almost mimicking the licks of flame.

  “Our plan is to go tomorrow night, if we cover our tracks, we might be able to disappear in the thicker brush.”

  “Do you think we could find the road again?” Jan asked curiously.

  The forest was no measly place. Trees dotted every square inch more common than specs of dirt with a canopy thick enough stop the barest scrap of wind.

  “I know so, some of our soldiers are trackers.”

  “This is great! We can escape, round up an army and maybe even still get the award!”

  A few of the others smirked at this, while some groaned. Laura cast him a sly look. Stealing Sill’s password seemed like a problem from another life. Forgotten dreams and aspirations smothered by the weight of the waking world.

  “What 50,000 quands is enough to go around, we might aswell be getting paid for this!” Laura replied hastily.

  Her greed almost caused Jan to laugh, but the severity of the moment caught his smile.

  “Oh, we’ll let me see the plan again?” She added.

  The others nodded in agreement. For a while, Laura poured over Paxter’s designs and traced out movements using a stick in the gravelly ground. She drew a cross over Dawnshire and began discussing alternative routes with lopsided figures and varied out of place shapes. They needed to cut time and make it quickly to Kag itself and knowledge of the valleys and hills would help clear the way. With an army of this size at their backs, speed was imperative and Dawnshire’s wooden walls would offer more of a tomb than refuge.

  Jan ignored them and felt Sill in his sizzle in his pocket. The rock still whirred slowly. He thought about questioning it more but short of its long string of buzzwords and fanatical tales he wasn’t in the mood to try to make sense of strange words or the results of Crous’s brainwashing. Laura however had questioned the rock more during the day telling Jan clues about Sill’s mysterious past and foreign dialect. They got little to no information besides sizzles and empty words when asking about the parasites, changing or the army Crous served.

  It was only then when Jan started to lie down, did he feel a package shift in his cloak. His hand flicked over to it to feel the jerky from before, the same he had when riding Maple only a day before. It seemed like years since their time on the trail.

  There was a decent amount left and Jan cast a glance towards a group. He thought about giving it to them but first his eyes drifted somewhere else.

  Aloat

  She was still hunched over on the rock. A soldier had offered her a bowl of the sloshing gruel but she had reportedly yelled at him before continuing to perch like a furious gargoyle glancing at scattered prey. She muttered to herself and drew plans with a stick in the rocky dust but from the way her face warped, it was clear Aloat was drawing straws for an empty fate.

  In an instant, Laura saw the jerky and so did Paxter. Jan handed it over but kept a few pieces before turning to where Aloat sat. The two were still crouched over and discussing plans while Jan straightened his robe and began to walk forward.

  “What are you doing?!” Laura inquired.

  She had abandoned the stick and was using a finger to trace out troop movements with Paxter and a few other soldiers nodding while they relayed commands. They hunched like mountain trolls over freshly caught game.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “I’m going to check on Aloat,” He replied quietly.

  The bizarre words felt harsh on his tongue. Only a week ago, Aloat would have been his mortal enemy, a person he would gladly push into street muck or frame for larceny at Imperial conventions. Now she just seemed petrified. A seemingly distracted Larua instantly perked up with these words sloshing like sludge over her thoughts.

  “Wait what why? Jan you don’t owe her a thing.” Laura jumped and pointed at the Sheriff in the distance.

  Paxter nodded.

  “Not to sound crass but Aloat may be famous in the papers, but she’s stuck up and probably thinks we're too “unintelligent” to contribute to whatever escape plan she’s trying to devise.”

  That was unexpected from the Lieutenant, but Jan could clearly see the two had worked together before. A cloud of insufferability and hedonistic acumen circled above the Sheriff’s head.

  “Look, sometimes you can’t mistake kindness for weakness,” he replied.

  Then, jerky in han,d Jan walked forward.

  - break -

  At first, she didn’t acknowledge him and only stared at the open stars. Constellations traced the night sky as their patterns masqueraded in the pools of reflected water. The clouds above wisped like a canopy shielding them from the heavens. Then she spoke.

  “You know it was a trap right?” Aloat spat.

  Jan placed a step forward. He already regretted approaching.

  “Oldsgood? The Inn”

  “Yes, Useless, who keeps a Watcher in their basement?”

  He nodded. They were stating the obvious and her tongue almost rasped the words.

  “The dalious. Before it caught us, you heard it?”

  Jan held his breath as Aloat began to speak. She looked up to have her messy hair fall down.

  “It said your name, Jan, it asked for you. It was sent for you. Whatever creature that was and monstrosity is in play. They wanted you. ”

  He stood still. The way the ratlings reacted and the words that creature slithered on it’s forked tongue still matted his thoughts. His holiness, the syllables ran like cold water down the back of his neck. It’s guttural dialect had elicited a gut-wrenching feeling. Captured or not, whatever those creatures saw in him wasn’t good. Jan held his tongue. He didn’t mention this to Aloat in fear she would likely turn him into imperial inspectors the moment of their return. Regardles,s maybe that wasn’t a bad idea.

  “You think someone set us up?”

  Aloat turned to him as they spoke.

  “I saw what you did for that farmer. You may be an idiot, but you have power. I was so scared you’d die, but you walked it off like nothing even happened. You slept it off like a baby.”

  “Scared? Why would you be scared that I die?”

  "Do you know how much your imperial commission would cost? The inquiries? let alone the murderers I killed you?" Aloat spat back.

  For a second, Jan shrugged with a wave of relief spreading across his shoulders. At least Aloat was back to normal, even if it meant a more vindictive self. He tried to press her further, but she didn’t answer him and just kept talking. Her hand still hugged her sword while she spoke.

  “Look, if you had half a brain, you’d almost be as talented as me.”

  Jan rolled his eyes. It had only been ten minutes, and already he regretted giving her the jerky. Regardless, she tore into the strips like an animal and seemed to relish every bite.

  “So what do you think?”

  “Who else knew about our mission, and why would they want you?” Aloat questioned.

  “Longsa made it seem like it was her idea, but regardless, it was only Longsa and Irwain. It could have been more. Partrich overhears most.” Jan added.

  Aloat paused for a moment in thought. She made a chewing motion with her mouth while she swallowed in a large gulp. Her responses were methodical and almost mechanical beneath the inquisitive banter.

  “Could have been some bureaucrat… there’s too much involved… too many names. Regardless, your placement for this mission wasn’t even in imperial census records until last week. I filed it myself after hours.”

  “What about just reading the newspaper? Sam Herald published our expedition?” Jan interjected.

  She rolled her eyes. A copy of the newspaper was tucked under the Sheriff's arm, looking like a bundle of drenched leaves.

  “It still doesn’t make sense, why the watcher in the basement? You know how expensive that is? I've worked for guilds with fewer supplies and requisitions. It would have needed a wrought iron container to even work like a trap, and even then, the idea is obscene. Why keep us captive but not Kiff?”

  Jan paused.

  “Kiff died because of luck, not reason. He died because the Dalious was too lazy to take him prisoner.” the scribe breathed.

  Aloat seemed saddened by this but she nodded in confirmation. Sometimes there wasn’t a reason. Not ever sacrifice had reason or ending was just there was no lesson to be learned by hardship rather than acceptance. They were all slaves to the whims of fate.

  “There’s a rat among us, Useless, someone who isn’t you, me or Laura. I think they took you away from Kag to weaken its defence, and they’ll be waiting for us when we return home.”

  Jan nodded. He had already suspected this, he moved to tell her about Laundre but tried to help her faith instead.

  “We have an escape plan, the…..”

  Her face almost convulsed at the notion.

  “The tunnel? It doesn’t take an idiot to see the imperials disappear. I’ve seen ratlings watching all day. They’re smarter Jan. That parasite did something to their brains. I don’t think they’ve missed much….”

  She clung to the final words with a sharp tongue. There was a coldness that seeped in the air while she spoke. The feeling of pure desperation. It wafted and hung like diseased meat over starving prey.

  “We have to have hope, but more importantly, I think we know who that rat is,” Jan replied.

  “Who?” Aloat’s ears almost perked in interest, and intrigue flashed over dark pupils.

  “Laundre, his corpse is in the north-west corner. It's been three weeks at most, he was still….”

  “Signing tax forms for the merchant guild four days ago?” She breathed.

  Jan gulped. The colour that had briefly returned to Aloat’s face seemed to fade even more.

  “I’ll have to inspect the body. At least it will give me something to keep my mind off things. Do you remember what Irwain used to say?”

  “What?” He interjected.

  “Good can’t exist in a world of evil, but evil thrives in a world of good,” She replied.

  Her eyes glazed over while she quoted the saying. She muttered more lines about if they escaped, investigating where the wrought iron box had been ordered from would be their best possible lead towards catching whatever infiltrators arrived. Then her tone changed to something far more human.

  “We’re going to die here, Jan. I don’t know a way out. I’ve spent my whole life escaping wild tales. Living for the moment like this, but for the first time, I’m scared. I’m petrified. There’s absolutely nothing we can do.” She added quickly.

  The words almost shocked him. She even let out a loose breath and shuffled back on the rock to re-adjust her position. He didn’t know what to say. His tongue twisted as the roof of his mouth grew thick.

  She looked at him with a confused expression before turning her head. He could almost taste disappointment in the air. Jan half expected she wanted him to come up with something. To say anything to relieve her nerves and stifle the burden the pit created. Jan just walked away. To hell with Aloat. Tomorrow, they would plan for their escape and leave whatever horrid creatures brewed above behind.

  The tunnel widened up ahead. It was pitch black with torchlight casting scattered rays across the shadows. They were packed in like cattle and whispered like bats in the irky dark. Almost a hundred soldiers pressed arm to arm against the cavern walls. It was clear Paxter had spent days mining towards a cave, and now a carefully marked path lay ahead. The Lieutenant, Jan and Laura were leading the pack. Aloat, however, stayed back and stared glumly at the ceiling as if it were the heavens collapsing from above. She stayed silent as if to cover their retreat.

  They had stuffed their woollen blankets with rocks and spare equipment to make decoys and shifted the majority of the tents to the surface of the cave opening in the hopes to hide their entry. Jan swallowed. He hoped it would work. Upon entery, ratlings and the bandits alike could faintly be heard but the noise was more muddled than before with faint sounds murmuring from the top of the pit. Aloat had joined them and what few brave soldiers remained in the quarry had now clambered inside. She was furious and cursed with a hand on her own sword. Laura stood at the front barking orders with Paxter. From the outside, it was clear they would only have an hour or two before their captors noticed still movement and descended from above.

  The corridor twisted abruptly, and Jan threw himself forward. Sill was still whispering in the scribe's ear as he motioned for another soldier to go ahead. Smoke from the torches was already making it hard to breathe and most had thick rucksacks and gear slamming into eachother at every turn. Watcher stone, granite and quartz ran like rivet through the earth with the cave making openings into pitch black. It had been mapped by Paxter’s runners but still they carefully ran. Shuffled in the shadows as fast as possible among the jagged rock with an unneeded haste. A mix of excitement and terror slithered through the group. It hovered in between their every breath and lisped on the edges of conversation.

  It was only when they at last reached the robes that Jan stared above. Starlight seeped from the edges of the gaping hole in the rock above. Sharp jagged stones clipped grass and mossy dirt with a canopy of trees signifying peace. An older soldier was the first to make the climb. Hoisting themselves up on the rope the first scout motioned towards the others as they sprinted into the dark. Paxter had sent messengers through this route the day before and with any luck an imperial army would come rescue the fleeing contingent. The sounds of leaves rustling above filled their ears. A soldier coughed. The noise releaving the tension of the moment. The others stared into his eyes in disbelief. Paxter went next. Hands wrapped in cloth from mining watchers ,the imperials scuttled up the robe like it was a simple ladder. He moved with an unseen speed and almost out of pure desperation. Others began to climb. Six more ropes were let down as they shimmied up the twisted fabric. Jan was about to follow when light began to shine from the back of the cavern.

  Then the shouts began.

  And the sound of clashing swords.

  “They found us! Parasites!!! Run!! Run!!!” a soldier yelled.

  Fear trickled down Jan’s neck.

  “Bandits in the caves!! Lieutenant, Bandits in the caves!” another shrieked.

  Laura turned to face the other two. They didn’t know what to say and only heard Sill make words.

  “Told you Commander! Doomed from the start!! Regardless, I have assembled a foolproof escape plan. Please implement it as soon as possible!” the rock eeked.

  Aloat let out a horrified gasp.

  A horde descended.

  The bandits were behind them. Three or four imperials tried to put up resistance at first and sew honour through their sacrifice. They fought out of desperation and madness, swinging their swords wildly to fell six ratlings in a single swoop but stopped when they saw the sheer size of the army infront. The enemy was poorly trained and easily cut down by the imperial group but their strength lay in numbers. Aloat slashed forward and caught a bandit in the neck, killing him instantly. Six more attackers rushed forward to clobber a stray imperial. A few archers loosed arrows down the hall, pattering the ratlings which clustered infront. Forty or so of them were still below with Paxter stuck above. Towards the surface, Jan heard the sound of swords clashing and ratling screeches in almost an instant. A hive-like sound of the creatures began to fill the air while he and Laura stood almost frozen in time. More imperials shouted. Seemingly holding positions against the onslaught above. The other didn’t know how to react. They would either rush forward and climb to their doom or stay here and meet a similar fate. The decision was soon made for them when the ropes above went slack to fall like limp snakes onto the cave floor. In the dark, Jan could make out the features of the Primelord in the torchlight of an entire army.

  The battle above blazed like a wildfire with torches and screams painted in the inky black. The Primelord was grinning ear to ear, barking out orders to those around him. Their ambush had been successful, and now they had come to lay stake to a prize. The human mage’s outdated garb sent Laura and Aloat into a questioning gaze, but they barely had time to react before swords flashed and even more shouts were heard. Paxter was then brought to the edge of the opening. An arrow sprung from his shoulder and was leaking blood. He was clearly wounded and was now being dragged about like a christened trophy by the parasite-riddled thugs. The remaining imperials stood helpless in defeat after being dragged kicking and screaming away from their comrades below and into whatever oblivion remained above.

  It was only then that Jan realized what was in the tunnel. Echoes ricocheted off the cavern walls. A dalious stood at the nearby entrance. The commanding lizard had grown since they last saw him. Almost gaining a foot in height with the same parasitic ooze drooping from its infected skull. It stopped for a moment and hissed a single set of words while the sun began to rise.

  “Jannsssss, I told you to wait six dayssssssss” it slithered in almost a perfect rhythm.

  The others didn’t know how to react, and Laura stepped forward. She cast a glance at her friend before

  “You’re a slave lizard! Don’t you understand! That thing on your head is controlling you. It’s controlling all of you!” She let out a frantic burst.

  The insult didn’t exactly help for diplomacy. Laura was almost grappling for her sword, but Jan placed a hand on her hilt and stopped her from pulling it out of the sheath. He and another imperial soldier had to hold her back from springing on the monstrosity. Laura’s bravery clearly had been ingrained with a fine layer of stupidity.

  Then an idea clicked. He turned to see Aloat was reaching for another potion at her belt. She pursed it in her hand for a moment, almost to feel its weight. Jan stepped forward. He had to buy time. Every precious second couldn’t be ignored.

  “Wait… wait!”

  “Wait?” Laura resounded in shock. Her palms were shaking, clearly is if she wanted to descend into madness like those above and fighting above and struggle to the bitter end.

  The dalious listened. It’s lower eyelid creeping up in thought.

  “I understand, I’ll wait six days without incident and we will work diligently…. but in exchange you must spare out lives.” He asked.

  “Sparess?” It asked questioningly.

  “Yes, I command it,” Jan hinted. Sill buzzed at this, almost as if to approve and disapprove at the same time.

  Some sort of realization flashed over the creature's dull eyes.

  It seemed to pause in confliction almost if it was fighting between two dichotomizing schools of thought. Two parts of its brain issuing conflicting commands to the same local region in excess.

  “It’s not like that, it’s not fairsssss, Primelordsss will keepsss those abovessss, you keep thosess belowsss” The hulking creature waved it’s webbed hand to those in the room. It’s own rusted and assorted platemail making it look like some kind of slimy brigand. Dilated pupils soaked in the surroundings.

  “No, then I won’t wait six days. We need everyone, all of those who are left” Jan replied. He was grasping at straws. Drawing at nothing out of pure desperation, but his gut told him this was the right choice of words.

  “Analysis suggests Paxter has a 90% chance of death in the next two days Commander!”

  Sill’s words didn’t help. Unless the rock was a statistician, Jan kept those remarks with a grain of salt. The group behind paused. Their mouths contracted and with tension and wonder at hearing the lizard speak. In a few moment it shook it’s scaly head again and slinked backwards. The creature’s longsword scraped against the rocky ground to let sparks flake.

  “You forget yourselsss childssss” the lizard vowed.

  It then let out a horrific grin.

  “It’s as theeee masterssss willssss.”

  There they were left to the dark and the caverns echoed.

  A silence consumed them all.