“The Guardian’s Village?” Aio said while grasping the side of his head. Dizziness washed over him as he attempted to stand. His eyes widened suddenly.

  “What happened to Vera? Are you okay?”

  Calli put her hand on his shoulder and then wrapped his arm around her shoulder, helping him walk.

  “C’mon, walk with me. I’ll explain everything as we go along,” she said.

  As the pair left the room, finding themselves in a simple hallway lit by lantern light, they trekked downstairs, finding themselves on the first floor of a common room. Men and women, dressed in plain clothing and appearing in a general roughshod nature scurried to and fro, handling their day to day business. From here Aio could see a group of men discussing something amongst themselves as one man quickly scrawled notes onto a small booklet. Another corner, he saw a woman dressed in a veil standing and speaking with a man dressed faded white who looked on in frustration as he ordered another round of drinks from the bartender behind the desk.

  No one seemed to care about Aio and Calli, nor Gravel and eventually the rest of the makeshift squad. The members found an open table sitting by the windowsill and, with some difficulty, Aio sat down on the table against the wall, with the rest of the crew.

  “Hi there, can I get you anything?” a young woman dressed in an apron said.

  “No thanks, we just wanted to sit down for a bit.”

  The woman took one look at Aio’s condition, nodded to herself, and began to take off.

  “All right. Take all the time you need then. If you want anything to drink or eat, just call out to us.”

  “Thanks,” Calli replied.

  Gravel, his height standing out amongst the rest of them began to speak, “What a strange place.”

  Though the other members said nothing, they all agreed with him. Aio, wondering what he meant, realized as he looked out the window at the village outdoors – well, as outdoors as you can be inside of a village hidden amongst the underground cave structures. Sitting in a wide and nearly flat rocky expanse, with the occasional stalagmite sticking out from the ground, Aio could see firelights of dozens of houses and buildings. Each one, painted in black – an odd color choice for how dark it was here – circled around the area, skirting the edges of the cavern. What peaked Aio’s curiosity the most was not the odd choice of architectural direction, in which every building had all roads leading toward…something in the center, it was the fact that the inn – or something akin to it – that he was currently residing in was located three stories high.

  Below him, bridges made with a dark wood and tightly knotted rope crisscrossed from one building to another and houses perched alongside the jutting slopes which seemed to dominate the strange enclose cavern system they were now a part of. As he pushed his head along the glass, he could see a glint of white out in the distance.

  The flower field from earlier, he thought, noticing the rays of sun permeating down from the roof of the high cavern ceiling. Not as much light reached here, but it was close enough that he could make out the strangely shaped and jagged rooftops which sat on most of the buildings here.

  “Calli,” Aio began.

  “Right,” Calli said, understanding where Aio was going before he finished. She took a quick glance at Gravel and the rest of the mercenaries who Aio wondered about. Why were they here now?

  “I was out cold too until just today and this is just what I heard from Gravel. Vera had been lying on the ground and List tried to go investigate.”

  List, tugging on her hair in a habitual motion, added, “Thought you guys were dead. Just wanted to check up on you and the target. But just as I was approachin’ all close and stuff, we got ambushed.”

  “What?” Aio wondered.

  “Yeah. You heard me. It looked like a person, lean of build, but his face was obscured by a strange golden mask. I attempted to capture him to find out why he was there and what his connection with Vera was, but…”

  “But what?” Aio asked.

  “That’s it. I…don’t remember anything that happened after that. It’s like my memory…jumped,” she said. However, anger began to seep into her eyes.

  Gravel looked at List and back at Aio before speaking, “A perception based ability no doubt, but not one I’ve ever heard before. I don’t often deal with Inners, but I’ve dealt with enough in my lifetime to know that was probably one. Last thing we remember is seeing is entire patches of the ground upended, blood on my arms and Kenan’s legs. Olivia’s badly hurt and still recuperating in the room above. She’ll be okay, from what I’ve heard, but it’ll be a while. As for Jin…well, when we checked, let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.”

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  “There wasn’t any time, but we’ll have to give him a proper burial…some day. It’s part of a hunter’s job to expect the worst, but sometimes I feel like it still happens more than I would like.”

  Calli started thinking back to Cyr, and her eyes looked downcast.

  Gravel continued, “I think List was the only uninjured one. Didn’t even give her any instructions, but she was able to adapt quickly to the dangers of the situation. No surprise, given how shifty and squirrelly she is.”

  She eyed him with a scowl.

  “Luckily, none of us died and you two were left well alone,” Gravel continued, ignoring her. “But something was definitely wrong with you two. Something we couldn’t fix with any first aid.”

  “Some kind of poison,” Kenan mentioned. Face tattoos made it hard to tell what kind of expression he held when he finally spoke. Aio thought it strange how even someone with his much display of expression on himself didn’t stand out amongst the people here.

  “Luckily we found someone…a shaman, they called her, who have dealt with neurotoxins like yours before. Apparently, it was one particular to species of Enthipids which hasn’t been seen around the Fringe since the shaman’s younger days. Whoever this Vera you dealt with, she has access to some…interesting resources.”

  List patted both Calli and Aio on the back. Aio grunted in pain as he reeled forward. “Don’t worry, you’ll two will be as bright as rain in no time.”

  “There’s no rain, List. Where do you find these sayings?” Gravel said, arms crossed.

  It was List’s time to ignore Gravel now. “Anyways, the shaman worked her magic and you two should feel a bit of exhaustion for a bit. In the meantime, we’ve sent out one of messengers to reach out to the Night Market. The quarry should still be in the caverns somewhere. After all, Night Market folks don’t allow hunters to close out their bounties outside of the district. If they see a strange man carrying an unconscious woman around, they’re not going to let them just waltz on out here.”

  “You don’t have to stick with us if you don’t want,” Calli said. “We’ve put you guys in unnecessary danger and acted brashly. You’ve got your payment. It’d be best if you avoid the Golden Order members.”

  “Nah,” List said. “You think the Night Market lets Clan members leave? Plus…” List tightened her fists, “Jin was actually a friend of mine, and I won’t rest until I see this Vera woman put six feet under.”

  Gravel looked at her, placing a hand on her shoulder. His hands seemed large against her more petite frame, “Whatever the case may be, this is our problem now too and we won’t let this quarry get away from us. We’re with you, even if we’ve only known each other for a while.”

  Aio looked at them, realizing that in all his years of being a hunter, one common theme he’s realized amongst them, is their shared sense of camaraderie. Perhaps it was a mutual understanding that we as a species can’t afford to bicker unnecessarily, when Neo-Kamakura is all that stands between humanity and extinction…between the the monsters outside, and the people within.

  Suddenly, a thought popped into his head.

  “Secret entrances?” Aio asked. “What if Vera and the man escape through one of those? I read about lesser known entrances in some blueprints I’ve seen in my studies. Those that led into Vitadale, if I recall correctly.”

  List looked at him, “You think that strange man would know any of them here? Calli told us the woman you’ve dealt with was probably a Clan member. They wouldn’t have any inside knowledge regarding any escapes back into the surface, and even if they did, it’d be guarded by dozens of experienced soldiers. And trust me when I say word gets around amongst the underground communities. If they pull anything, we’ll know.”

  Aio nodded slowly, although he still wasn’t fully convinced. He was aching though, and didn’t have time to think.

  Suddenly his head started to ache and the concern on the other’s faces showed when he began to hold his head. He looked around, and despite the aggravating sting in his mind, his eyes widened. The nun and the man in white stood up looking at the doorway and out towards the village center, where a pulsating light began to emanate.

  “It begins,” a nearby patron said, and Aio looked out the window. Torches began to dot the bridges and walkways below as hundreds of villagers began to pour out of the buildings and walk towards the strange source of light emanating from below them. Most of the inhabitants were veiled or wearing that same white as the man had been and Aio, distracted, tried to focus in on what was happening.

  Suddenly, a familiar voice began to ring in his head.

  “Lost one,” it said. “Below.”

  Aio shot up, despite his condition.

  “What are you doing?” Calli said.

  “There’s something down there,” Aio said. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I think something wants me to follow them.”

  “Wait,” Calli said. She gritted her teeth. She wanted Aio to rest for a bit. She wanted to give him time so she could talk with him about what happened to Cyr…And yet, she couldn’t find a moment. She was scared. Of what, she wasn’t sure. But Cyr was like a brother figure to Aio, and to her as well. Perhaps understanding how her own outrage continues to affect her, she found it difficult to bring herself to bring Aio down to her level. She didn’t want him to feel like they could have done something – that his death was in some way, their responsibility to carry.

  Not realizing she was grabbing his arm, Aio looked on.

  “I have to, Calli,” he said. “I don’t know why, but I just have to.”

  She let go of his arm looking down. Why was she so uneasy? Why was so so afraid of what might happen to her comrades right now?

  “Come with me,” he said, and Calli looked up from her seat at him. “I’d be more assured knowing you were there. Whatever’s calling out to me…I think it’s related with what Alyx wanted us to find…and it’d be nice to have you along.”

  List and Gravel stood up as well.

  “Hey, don’t leave us out of this,” List said, with Gravel smiling next to them. “We promised to help you see your bounty through to the end, and as long as those bounties are still here in the underground, we’re not going to let you down.”

  Kenan continue to sit, leaning back against his chair.

  “Right Kenan?” List said.

  He said nothing, face tattoos unmoving, indicating lack of expression.

  “RIGHT KENAN?” List said, louder.

  It was then she realized he was asleep.

  “Well, guess it’s just us four for now then.”