Chapter 105 - Tenar (Patreon)

<---Chapter 104 - Catacombs | Table of Contents | Chapter 106 - Triple Trap --->

Kyle shied away from the streets, covering his face behind the corner of an alleyway as a military arctech wagon rolled past, the streets filled with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Versians clamored outside of popular cake shops and temporary stall carts that served waffles of every flavor, the sweet, delectable aroma wafting through the fresh air. It was a far cry from the plight of the refugees he had witnessed just in Ocra, a world of difference apart.

"Feldon, make sure the directions are correct. We're looking for the Golden Days bookstore." Kyle ordered to the wide-eyed Feldon, who hurriedly pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper, reading through the steps written by Culo.

"Says here it's two blocks down from here, assuming this map is accurate..." Feldon rotated the rough scribbles on the paper to match their current location, squinting at the nearby road sign. "Just gotta walk straight to that roundabout at the end of the road and make a right, we should see it along the sidewalk."

Kyle nodded, stuffing his handgun back into his belt's rear holster before gripping Masir's arm tightly. "If you try to run, you know what will happen."

"Of course, of course!" Masir bobbed his head vigorously.

"Good. Let's move." Kyle shoved him out onto the open street, and the trio began to act normal, walking through the crowded streets without giving themselves away. Kyle noticed a few weird glares from nearby pedestrians and even wagon drivers staring at him, clearly either intrigued by the fake acne and warts on his face. He clenched his fist tightly, restraining his boiling internal rage. Once I get back to Haui...

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a grand statue placed right smack in the center of the roundabout. Little red flags waved, indicating tour groups being led around the statue, which was surprisingly half-broken and soiled with red paint and graffiti. "Death to the Count..." Kyle read it out loud under his breath.

Quite a few Versia tourists who were on their first trip to the capital were staring in awe, with even a school group being guided by three teachers, along with a few filming crews who were already using light-capturers. [It was here where former President Johan first made his famous independence speech, along with current Acting President Mornero; long live his name.]

Kyle played along with the act, his path taking him slightly closer to the light-capturers to get a better look. His eyes scanned for any telltale signs, before he finally found a mark - one indicated that the Sliver Screens had produced the light-capturer. Interesting, must have been smuggled here. I certainly don't recall approving the sale to Versia.

One of the actors being filmed was on break, taking a sip from a flask as he glanced at Kyle and nearly spat out his water in shock. Kyle gritted his teeth and pressed on, ignoring the whispers. As he followed Masir and Feldon, he felt the actor approaching him from behind, nearly forcing him to draw his handgun on instinct. Yet he refrained, turning around with a light smile. The actor recoiled a little but summoned the courage to say what he wanted to say: "If you need a referral to a nearby hospital or clinic, I can provide you with some. All Versians have free healthcare so long as you claim from the government in the next-"

"I'm perfectly happy with how I look, thank you very much." Kyle's eyebrow twitched as he shrugged off the man, continuing to follow Masir and Feldon along the street towards the liaison point. As he caught up with them, he found Feldon sniggering to himself, though it was stopped quickly by a sharp glare from Kyle. "Don't laugh at me - you don't look that much better yourself. If you want to continue laughing, feel free to return."

"Sorry, sir. I'll do my best." Feldon spoke with an emotionless robotic tone as though he hadn't been on the verge of tears before.  Still, Kyle was impressed with what the actor had told him. Welfare benefits – I’m surprised a country at this age would support universal social security. Generally, he would have expected a city to turn out exactly like Raktor, with the industrialists and landowners at the very top. Instead, it felt like he had entered a socialist paradise of sorts. Disgusting.

While the trio walked, Kyle noticed a few Versian soldiers patrolling as well, spotting a similar tattoo on their necks much like the Nest workers at the catacombs dock beneath. He kept his gaze low, avoiding eye contact as they brushed past each other through the crowd of Versians that seemed to never end.

Soon, they found themselves outside the mentioned bookstore, a quaint little place that had a distinct smell of leather and binding glue that permeated the atmosphere.  A few customers were already in there between the towering shelves that touched the moldy ceiling, some of them eyeing Kyle as they entered through the door, a tiny bell ringing to announce their entry.

He followed Feldon towards one of the shelves nested in the corner of the bookstore, ignoring the half-asleep cashier at the front counter who had dozed off reading an unfamiliar book about the different breeding methods for likrids. Kyle shuffled through the tight, narrow spaces of the shelves, coming face to face with a series of encyclopedias that stretched half the length of the shelves, their red leather jackets luxurious and intimidating.

"Now, we just need this..." Feldon rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a tiny little arctech necklace much like Kyle's own Necklace of Healing. He placed it against the spine of one of the encyclopedias’s volume, the shape of the necklace's sigil matching the invisible groove exactly. Closing his eyes, Feldon took a deep breath and channeled arcia energy, the bright blue arcs visible slightly under his skin as it arced towards the sigil, powering it up before it began to sputter and falter, the process failing.

"Are you a mage by any chance?" Masir began to look at Feldon with far more respect. "And here I thought you were just a bumbling fool, but I haven't seen many with good control over their internal arcia energ-"

His words were caught in his throat as Kyle pushed Feldon aside roughly, placing his own hand and channeling the arcia energy at a far faster rate. The sigil lit up and glowed brilliantly, traces glistening from the imbued arcia energy as the shelve began to slightly shift apart, revealing a small tiny gap in the wall near the bottom that could only fit one person at a time by crawling.

Kyle did the same as always: he forced Masir in, followed by Feldon while he took up the rear, pocketing the necklace, clambering into the tight space, and ensuring that the shelf closed behind them. "Move up, you fat cunt." Feldon prodded Masir's butt with his finger, causing Masir to yelp slightly and scramble faster.

The cramped tunnel sloped downwards until they reached a main tunnel, one large enough for them to stand up and lit by arctech lanterns that had just been freshly installed. They squeezed their way through, coming face to face with a heavy wooden door only furnished with a single eyeslit that opened the instant Masir stepped close.

"One without tyranny." A female voice echoed behind the door, her eyes scanning the trio suspiciously.

Kyle held up the sigil of the necklace. "The revolution repeats itself."

"The birds are no longer caged." The female voice pressed.

"Even the wyvern's nest is not safe."

Three latches were unlocked one by one on the other side of the door with loud clangs, the door swinging open to reveal a small but proficient hideout furnished with simple bunk beds and supplies to last a month. Only four members were inside, including the lady who had just asked them the codewords. She stuck out her hand, shaking that of Kyle's. "You must be the leader Culo mentioned was coming. Though I didn't know you would look like... that."

"I am, and you must be the famous Lisa. Culo put you in charge of Tenar operations." Kyle finally wiped off his makeup, revealing a stunning, charismatic face, making Lisa instantly blush from even the obvious false compliment.

"Well, please, make yourself at home. I was expecting four of you, including Sasha...?"

"I have her on another mission. We'll meet up with her later." Kyle plodded down on a nearby chair, tapping the table and motioning for the rest to gather around while Lisa shut the door. "Let's not waste time - we're on the clock, and we need to take stock of what we have and what we know."

"Yes, sir." Lisa automatically deferred to Kyle's authority, hurriedly following her training, knowing that Kyle was the boss of Culo and Sasha and, thus, must be a great man. "As you can see, it's been exceedingly difficult to recruit manpower in Tenar. The standard of living here is just too good for anyone here to even fathom rebelling against the current ruling power. Both Acting President Monero and Harrison right now have a sort of fanatical cult behind them."

Kyle nodded his head in agreement. With such strong welfare options in place, the people must feel far removed from war and hardly affected. "This is not the same as the refugee camp at Ocra."

"Exactly. Without enough dissatisfaction, we won't be able to gather enough men to do anything significant. Not to mention that there has been an increased presence of Nest and military troops, trying to ensure stability and hunt down us." Lisa sighed. "Honestly, I haven't left this hideout for about three days now. It's just too dangerous out on the streets."

"What about the catacombs?" Feldon ventured. "They seem complicated enough to hide there and evade detection. Maybe we can try hitting some Nest locations and take them over, like that Nest dock we just came through."

"No, that will cause them to crash down on us even more. Do we have a map of the catacombs?" Kyle asked Lisa.

"Sadly, I believe even Nest does not know the full extent of the catacombs. It's been built more than three centuries ago and has been expanded countless times. There are rumors that some tunnels even lead all the way to Creuliz." Lisa shook her head. "If we want to know about the catacombs, we need to recruit someone who is extremely familiar with it."

"How are we going to recruit them? Anyone who knows the true extent is either a Nest member or probably some Versian government employee. Unless..." Feldon tapped his chin. "You already know someone who is a proper candidate. Is it Minister Dekar?"

"Minister Dekar is indeed rumored to be in Tenar, but we have our eyes on another potential recruit - Zayin."

"Who?"

"An old revolutionary, one of the original crew who established Versia. We have concrete confirmation from our observations that he is working as a slave in a sweatshop in the catacombs near Section 5A. I believe if we can save him, we can use him as a way to get into contact with Minister Dekar while achieving information on the layout of the tunnels."

That was just where we were. Kyle pondered for a moment, before he glanced at Masir, who quickly looked away, acting like he had not just listened to the current conversation. As his mind raced, putting the pieces in place, a plan began to form together in Kyle's head, a small grin growing on his face. He abruptly slammed the table loudly, standing up to his full height. "We will continue to monitor the situation from this hideout, and then determine a correct time to establish contact with this 'Zayin'. Understood?"

Everyone but Masir nodded, dispersing to their respective bunk areas to continue their work. Feldon took up the lead position alongside Lisa, though there wasn't much to lead, with only three other Ghosts here. However, Kyle suddenly pulled Lisa aside, whispering to her quietly: "How many other hideouts do we have here?"

"We have three more, though they are quite far away."

"How fast can we move?"

"If necessary, we can cave in the entire place with a few explosives in about ten minutes. It will take about an hour to reach the next one though."

"Okay." Kyle sat back down on the table, grabbing a nearby ink pen and scribbling furiously into a letter quickly and sealing it with wax. "Have a Ghost take Masir above ground and use him to deliver the letter to the Alchemist Guild's branch here."

"Hmm... okay, but what if Masir runs?" Lisa was well aware of who he was, feeling this mission was a bit dangerous.

"Tell the Ghost to give chase, but immediately give up if there's any chance of being caught. Our lives are more important than some message. Remember, it's critical that the Ghost is not seen delivering the message, understood? This message is critical to taking down Nest." Kyle spoke a bit louder, earning Masir's attention.

"Understood."

"Good." Kyle watched as Lisa explained the task to another female Ghost member, who in turn grabbed the letter and Masir along, dragging him out of the hideout unwillingly.

Masir grunted as he clutched onto the edge of the door, struggling to hold on while the Ghost tugged him in the other direction. "What are you making me do?! Please, don't kill me! I already did everything you asked for; I want no part of this stupid rebel movement!"

"This is your last task. Do this well and I will set you free, how about that?" Kyle smiled.

Somehow, Masir doubted that was true, but he still took the chance, letting go of the door and following the Ghost back out towards the bookstore. They clambered through the cramped tunnel once more, exiting normally through the tiny gap as Masir dusted off his clothes. He looked around sheepishly, planning to dash away from the Ghost, when his wrist was suddenly expertly gripped by her, twisting behind his back in an arm lock. He yelped in pain, turning his face only to see the smooth barrel of a handgun aimed right squarely between his eyes.

"Don't try to run, or else. Now move to the Alchemist Guild's branch on Asha Street." The Ghost spat before placing Kyle's letter into his arm and releasing him. Masir staggered forward, rubbing his wrists gingerly as they left the bookstore, the Ghost trailing him quietly from behind through the street.

Fucking hell, if I'm spotted delivering the letter, I will be marked as an accomplice despite me being a prisoner! Masir's eyes darted about with a shifty gaze, looking for every possible angle of escape. Yet, he could see the Ghost watching him extremely closely, expertly following his every move and cutting off most places he could try to hide in. More importantly, he instinctively knew that if he tried to run with his unfit body, the Ghost would catch up with him in an instant.

He bided his time, carefully walking towards Asha Street and constantly keeping a vigilant lookout. For some unknown reason, there were hardly any military or Nest patrols around. Where are those fuckers when you need them the most?! Masir never thought he would say that of Nest, but dire times called for brand-new allegiances.

As he turned the corner into Asha Street, the area was brimming with activity - a relic market with merchants propped up wooden tables covered with a brilliant cloth, displaying arctech equipment that was specially designed or excavated from long-forgotten ruins in the Versian wilderness. There was a clear difference in the type of crowd that was here under the colorful fabrics hung across the buildings that blocked the harsh daylight compared to the outside.

Adventurers, explorers, and mercenaries were all browsing weapons, armor, and equipment out in the open, thanks to Versia not having a ban on it. Even arctech guns and handguns were sold by the dozens, displayed prominently on carpets along the floor. Masir shifted through the crowd quickly, his steps picking up, hoping to lose the Ghost. Yet as he turned around, he saw the Ghost keeping pace with him well, only a few steps behind. They were getting close to the branch of the Alchemist Guild's branch, its store sign hanging on a bright metallic pole in the distance.

As luck would have it, Masir finally spotted an entourage of what seemed to be well-armored mercenaries decked out in arctech knight armor coupled with gas masks covering the lower half of their faces. Four of them guarded a well-dressed lady, her dark green cheongsam sticking out like a sore thumb against the more practical adventurer's leather outfit and the frilly dresses of the ladies who shot a few jealous glares towards her. But all of that hardly mattered to Masir - what mattered the most was that they all sported the same neck tattoo, the lady's one the most obvious to those who knew what it meant. Nest!

Masir immediately sprinted towards the lady, prompting the mercenaries guarding her to immediately draw their weapons, all of them brimming with arctech pieces of equipment far beyond the budget of a regular mercenary. The front two mercenaries caught Masir right by the neck, restraining his arm and pinning him to the ground. Masir struggled against the weight of the heavy armor, spitting saliva on the ground as he tried to speak. "Y-Yona! It's me, Masir!"

"Masir...? I know a lot of 'Masir'. Most of them are dead." The lady murmured, the crowd in the Asha Street relic market knowing well enough to steer clear of the commotion, not willing to get tangled up in Nest business if they could help it.

"It's me, Masir, from Ocra?! You know, Masir's Boys leader?"

"Rings somewhat of a bell. Search him." The lady waved her manicured hands dismissively, one of the mercenaries quickly ruffling Masir's pockets, finding the sealed letter in his palm. The mercenary continued to search before tugging out the license paper and reading it.

"He has a license with us, Lady Yona." The mercenary held it up for her to read, though she did not touch it herself.

"So it seems... And what business do you have to charge at me? Appointments are to be scheduled by my servants." Yona flexed her fingers outwards, self admiring her own fingers that overlapped her vision of the grovelling Masir.

"I'm being chased, I'm being chased by the Ghosts of Versia! There's a Ghost following me!"

Yona's nonchalant demeanor immediately darkened. "Call every Nest member nearby. Lockdown Asha Street now." She ordered a mercenary, who relayed the order.  Within seconds, some merchants and customers revealed their Nest affiliation all along the length of the street, cutting off the entrance and exit of the street. "Check everyone in here. You, get up. You recognize the Ghost chasing you, right?"

"Yes, yes, but I have bigger information!" Masir struggled to his feet, catching his breath after being pressured by the heavy arctech knight armor of the mercenaries. "Their hideout is at the Golden Days bookstore!"

Yona squinted her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I've been trading slaves for ages, Yona, please, you have to believe me! They destroyed my gang and enslaved me!" Masir pleaded, getting down on his knees. Despite the begging, she did not budge just yet, contemplating her next moves while the Nest mercenaries forced Masir to cooperate in their search for the Ghost. However, Masir quickly realized that the Ghost had already long escaped, most likely at the moment he sprinted towards Yona.

"And how do I know this is not a trap?" Yona questioned.  "For all I know, you could be leading me to my death!"

"I-I'll lead you to them directly! I'll go first, but only if you guarantee my safe return to Ocra!" Masir negotiated, clearly not letting go of his own survival.

"Hmm..." Yona seemed hesitant, making Masir flustered.

"I still got more information on what the Ghosts of Versia plan to do next!" Masir compromised heavily, trying to lead on Yona, who grinned in return.

"Deal. Lead the way." Yona immediately rallied a dozen Nest mercenaries, marching back through the streets leading towards the Golden Day bookstore, the Versian citizens stepping aside as they watched the squad force their way through the densely crowded streets.

Masir quickly found the bookstore once more, but something was clearly off - all of the customers inside as well as the cashier was already missing. Yona immediately noticed the nervousness of Masir, prompting her to use a few handsigns, ordering the Nest mercenaries to scout the area, checking for any other routes out.

"Lady Yona, this is the only exit and entrance as far as we can tell." One of the mercenaries reported back.

"Then get the informants nearby to relay any suspicious behavior they can recall coming from the bookstores. I want faces and names where possible. Get three men to go in with Masir now." Yona ordered.

Masir gingerly stepped forward, feeling like he had jumped from one boiling pot to another as he felt the three Nest mercenaries behind him aiming their barrels right at his body, prepared for any potential betrayal. They stepped forward with great care, checking every movement to make sure they did not trip any traps. As they reached the same bookshelf as before, Masir soon realized that he did not have the necklace required to open the shelf, nor did he have the requisite control over his own internal arcia energy. "There's this tiny little groove in the spine of the book right here that we need to-"

Before he could finish, the Nest mercenary slung his rifle behind his back, grabbing the shelf with two gloved hands and pulling it apart, the shelf nearly crushing Masir as he scampered to the side. One by one, the shelves crashed into each other, collapsing like a domino with a series of loud bangs, kicking a swirling cloud of dust that choked out the men inside.

Sure enough, there was a tiny gap present in the wall. With two Nest mercenaries watching Masir carefully, the lead mercenary entered first, before confirming that the tunnel was safe. Soon they entered, putting Masir right in front of them as a body shield while pushing forward. As they reached the end of the tunnel, the bolted wooden door was latched shut. Masir walked up nervously, rasping his knuckles on the hardwood. "Uhm, Lisa? Kyle?"

No one replied, only an eerie silence resting in the cramped tunnel. The lead mercenary immediately charged forward, slamming his entire knight armor into the door with his whole body weight. The thick door snapped off its hinges nailed into the cavernous wall, collapsing with a loud thud to reveal an abandoned hideout, supplies, and documents still left about.

"Wha-" Masir stuttered, unable to understand how the hideout could have been abandoned in such a short timeframe. The three Nest mercenaries scoured the hideout for traps, not finding anything while the lead thumbed through the documents left behind, his eyes widening before activating the arctech radio on his belt.

"Lady Yona, there seems to be information about Ghosts of Versia in here. We've cleared the place of traps as far as we can tell." The lead spoke into the radio's microphone.

[I'll be there shortly.]

Soon, the hideout was filled with six Nest mercenaries and Yona herself, who read over the documents slowly. "Good work, Masir. Looks like you'll be returning to Ocra safely after all-"

All of a sudden, a series of deafening booms exploded the walls apart in a dazzling ball of flame that threatened to engulf the hideout, the support of the cavernous ceiling immediately giving and causing a rockslide that crushed the Nest mercenaries into paste despite their heavy armor without a chance. Before the incoming rocks and fire could smash into Yona, she instinctively flicked a paper fan apart, one which glowed with thick arcia lines that brimmed with energy.

A sharp, hemispherical barrier of wind formed around her, the gusts strong enough to divert the crumbling ceiling all around her while the foundation of the building above threatened to crush her as well. Grunting, she flicked the fan furiously, drawing winds from the meager air around that concentrated into a stream that pushed the foundation slightly to the side, plunging into the ground right next to her. With one more flick of her fan, she let out a gust that extinguished the remaining fire that had already burnt through the documents.

Yona let out a heavy breath as the rockslide finally stopped, her rage brimming on the surface while she glanced down at a squeamish Masir who was still cowering with his eyes closed right next to Yona, his hands wrapped around his head in a fetal position. "You fucking bitch, you lured us into a trap!" She swung her fan again, this time the wind slamming Masir into a nearby pile of rubble painfully, his mouth gagging. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bury you right next to my men!"

"Please, please, I didn't know, I didn't know!" Masir pleaded, but Yona grabbed him by the collar, her seemingly frail body surprisingly strong enough to drag him through the tunnel towards a Nest mercenary who had entered the tunnel, alerted by the sounds of an explosion.

"Take this man back to the catacombs, right this instant! I want to know who the fuck let him in!" Yona roared, smacking Masir on the back of his head and knocking him out cold.

Masir suddenly found himself splashed with a cold bucket of sewer water; his entire body drenched as he squirmed on the floor, his legs and arms bounded behind him. While he spluttered and tried to wipe the water off his eyes using the coarse stone floor of the catacombs, he noticed that another man had been tied up next to him as well - the guard who checked their wagon at the very first entrance. The two of them were now placed on full display in the middle of the catacomb dock right on the berth, no doubt to make a statement of them. Dock workers all gathered around, watching in morbid curiosity.

"I gave you one simple job, and you couldn't even stop some Ghosts rats from entering!" Yona berated the Nest guard leader as she sat on a chair facing the two accused, her eyes staring daggers at the both of them as she was flanked by two Nest mercenaries.

"Lady Yona, please! I followed protocol; I checked all of his men against the wanted list and for signs of affiliation. Masir had a proper license paper as well!" The Nest guard pleaded his case, but he was clearly not getting through to Yona. Instead, Yona snapped her fingers, prompting another Nest mercenary to walk up to the Nest guard, attaching what seemed to be an anchor to the ropes that tied the guard's leg. With a solid throw, the guard was dragged screaming into the depths of the dock, the bubbles the only remnant of his struggle. The crowd of dock workers winced slightly, reminded of their role and position in Nest.

Masir's face paled, quickly racking his brain as to how he could get out of this. "WAIT! Wait, wait, wait, I know where the Ghosts of Versia are going to attack next!" He exclaimed, trying to get Yona's attention.

"If this is another trap..."

"No, no, no, I'm pretty sure this is the truth! You can verify this for yourself - I know there's an old Versian revolutionary known as Zayin, he's working in the sweatshop at Section 5A! Please, you have to let me go, I was enslaved by them in the first place!"

Yona whispered to the mercenary next to her, prompting him to pass Kyle's sealed letter to her. "And what about this letter?"

"I don't know anything about its contents! I was only asked to pass the letter to the Alchemist Guild branch on Asha Street!" Masir immediately told the truth.

Yona had her mercenary open the letter in case it had been laced with a contact poison. When it was verified, she read it carefully, though her rage only began to boil even more, her face fuming with anger. "YOU! YOU HAD THIS PLANNED ALL ALONG!"

"H-huh?!" Masir looked around confusedly. "What's in that letter?"

"Don't play dumb. Since you want to go back to Ocra, death by drowning is hardly enough for you - you two, send him to the military to be conscripted as a recruit. Let him be cannon fodder on the frontlines since he loves Ocra so much."

"No, no, no, please!" Masir's struggles and screams had no weight on Yona as he was hauled away to an unknown fate, her fury now directed at the contents of the letter. Without another word, she only gave a slight glance at the bubbles still coming from the Nest guard leader that was drowning.

"Make sure that we retrieve the anchor when he's dead. Metal is precious in wartime." Yona ordered without any emotions, leaving the dock with her mercenaries in tow. The surrounding dock workers began to discuss among each other as soon as she left, curious about what had just happened.

"Who's that lady?" One of the more newer dock workers asked naively. "She looks pretty nice."

An older veteran worker chuckled, patting the newer dock worker on the back. "Same here, but you better give up your hope of ever getting close to her. She's one of the vice leaders of Nest here in Versia - we won't be making it to that rank anytime soon."

"Who knows? Maybe I can prove myself?"

"By what? Hauling crates? Sure, very inspiring."

"HEY! What are you all hanging about for? The shift ain't over just yet!" One of the nearby Nest guards hollered after them.

As the surrounding dock workers began to disperse, one of the more nervous dock workers did not return to his post, instead moving carefully towards a hidden nook behind large crates of supplies, finding a hiding spot. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure that he wasn't about to be caught, before cracking open one of the crates, revealing a tiny compact arctech radio. Tuning the frequency, he whispered into the microphone. "Jovial is the hay in the den."

[Decks will be scrubbed in war. I told you not to call me unless it's urgent.] The voice on the other side shot back angrily, forcing the nervous dock worker to squat and cower behind the crates, adjusting the volume slightly lower.

"But Minister, I got some information about one of our old friends!"

[Old friends?]

"Zayin! Zayin has been enslaved by Nest, working at a sweatshop in Section 5A!"

[That's impossible! I heard he migrated to Creuliz after the war of independence!]

"Must be another lie propagated by Mornero. What else has he not lied about?" The nervous dock worker's voice was thick with hatred. "What should we do?"

[What else? Of course, we're going to save him.]

"But Nest also knows about him - it could be a trap! We've worked so hard to keep under the radar -"

[There's no choice. Today is the day that I, Dekar, will stand and fight for those who will walk with me to freedom!]

<---Chapter 104 - Catacombs | Table of Contents | Chapter 106 - Triple Trap --->