FHC B2 Chapter 17: Deeper Exploration (Patreon)

"Alice!" I hissed.

She stopped moving and turned to look. I pointed to the door and shook my head as Freki reemerged.

"Trapped?"

"Yeah. Same rune as the one from the entrance, but it's only affecting the door."

Alice backed up a few steps and crouched low. "Any way to get around it?"

I ordered Freki to dive again and forced myself into the void. Once my vision split, I searched the area around the door, but there wasn't a way through. The entire door blocked out all light from the other side, fitting too snugly into the frame.

Freki got close, but there was no way to slip through the door, not even as small as he was in this form. Whenever he dived, his wolf form was loosely translated as such, but without even an inch to spare, he turned and growled.

I shook my head. "Doesn't look like it."

"Can he scratch it off? Like the other one."

The door continued to pulse rapidly, less than a second apart. Biting my lip, I watched to see if it relented, but I had to shake my head again after a minute. "No. It's activating too fast. Can you feel it?"

"Yeah, like constant tapping."

"I think we have to skip over this. I don't want to alert whoever is inside."

She agreed, and even though I hated leaving an unsearched room behind, we backtracked and began heading up the stone staircase.

So far, this place had nothing remarkable about it. And for a place filled with lights and strangely clean tunnels, there wasn't a soul in sight. It was a good thing, for sure, but it left me on edge. Alice looked calm, but she kept her axe ready.

At least mine is easy to pull out.

I had Freki take the lead once more, and he padded his way up the stairs. His shadowy form blended in with the shadowy tunnels, only becoming visible when he stepped into the light of the glowing mushrooms. He kept his head low, sniffing, while Alice helped stabilize me as we continued our ascent.

We moved a surprising distance upwards, the stairs feeling like three flights. Once Freki reached the top, he stuck to the walls and found another door, this one made of wood.

It was barely a door. Little more than planks of wood tied together by rope and hardened resin-like material, it hung on the doorframe at an angle. Still, it blocked out the light, leaving only a crack, but it was dark on the other side, so it might have been covered.

I signaled for Alice, wrapped my hand around the frame the way Devon did, and unsheathed my axe. She held her axe up, gripped it in both arms while tensin. And then I tried jerking the door off its hinge.

It only partially came off.

Oopsy.

I cringed, and Alice stared as I cleared my throat and pulled again, exerting more force. The door came free, and Freki rushed through, with Alice following closely behind.

On the other side, the door opened into a wide chamber, decorated with small nooks in the walls, each containing a bundle of mushrooms giving off faint light. The rest of the chamber dipped down below a ledge, so I couldn't see beyond it until I stepped through the door and joined Alice on the other side.

It sloped downward with stone steps curving around and leading down to the ground, which featured a massive metal grate embedded into the floor. The bars were interlocked, only a few inches apart, besides the metal latch in the middle.

I strained to listen but heard nothing. Yet, when I sniffed the air, foreign thoughts roared to life and slammed into my mind.

Want! Need! Consume!

I stepped away and noticed Alice rooted to the spot. I tugged her back while Freki guarded our retreat.

Once we returned to the doorway, I tossed up my hood, feeling the draw lessen. The hunger subsided as the smell didn't escape from the chamber.

Alice shook her head and pulled her hood tight around herself.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"No problem," I replied, motioning toward the door. "Are you good?"

"Yes. I'll be fine. Did you…"

"Yep. Not sure what, but the beast inside my head wanted me to jump down and throw myself at whatever is under the grate."

I stared at Freki, who kept sniffing the air. Through the connection, I felt a strange buzz that lessened the more he sniffed. Eventually, he gave off a low growl and wagged his tail.

"I'll send Freki first. Just a moment."

Freki nodded and carefully made his way back into the chamber. We watched from the doorframe as he followed the steps down. As he landed on the floor, I waited for something to happen, but nothing did. He continued until he reached the grate and looked down.

I couldn't see anything, but Freki pushed his snout into the grate and sniffed. He raised his head, and his ears flattened.

That's not good.

Freki crept backward, and I looked at Alice. She silently nodded, and we re-entered the chamber, making our way down. The smell grew stronger, sweet, and savory, like fresh meat with rich blood dripping off its flank.

I grabbed at my stomach and snarled.

Stop it. Cut it out.

Forcing myself away from the grate below, I looked around and found two tunnels leading to the side of the chamber. I pointed at the one with the most light, and we shuffled toward it.

I went to open the door, but as I neared, something tore it off its hinges, and I jumped back. Raising my axe, I nearly chopped downward, but a familiar red cloak slipped into the light. Devon looked down and met my eyes.

He looked to the side and noticed Alice and Freki crouched low. His gaze swept past them and onto the grate. Crimson irises glowed underneath his hood, and he lowered his chin.

"I see," he muttered. "We'll handle this later. Come. I found them."

Before I could ask what he meant, he turned and left, leaving me strangling the air.

—-----------------

We followed, and he led us down the first corridor that actually looked used. Some dust and mud had collected on the floor, leading down the tunnel where several doors had been ripped and torn off their hinges. The remnants of destroyed wood and bent metal painted the ground, along with streaks of blood.

"Devon," I began. Then I passed a door where the whole space looked like a tornado had torn through. "Never mind."

He led us into a room where I found a bunch of men corralled into a cage of bent metal. Something, or rather someone, had jammed the metal prongs into the stone like a makeshift stake.

At the sight of Devon, two whimpered while the third pressed himself against the cage and snarled. The fourth member lay either unconscious or dead.

"You! Let us go, or you'll regret it!" the portly man snarled.

I snorted.

That's cliche as hell.

It didn't take much; the man shrank away as Devon loomed over him, and he joined his cowering fellows.

"Repeat what you said," Devon commanded.

The man began to step forward, but then he saw Freki, and I smelled the pungent urine before I saw it stain his trousers.

Alice scrunched her face and resheathed her axe while I rested my hand on Freki's head.

"I-I… No! It doesn't matter!" he managed to roar. "Let us go, or you'll be dead. And it's never painless."

"S-stop! Can't you recognize them? They're Grimms!" the skinniest man stammered.

I watched them shake in place. From the looks of it, they were all sleeping, no shirts, something that's only barely accepted as underwear, and the man who hadn't spoken yet still had crust adorning his eyelashes.

Devon looked unbothered by their antics and merely slid a hand into the cage, pulling the one who stuttered against the bars. "Repeat. What. He. Said."

"Please don't kill me! I-I'll do it!"

Devon let go and stood back, subtly wiping his hands on the bars as he pulled out.

"The ones you're looking for, they're in the main chamber," he rushed. Devon's grip tightened, and the man shut his eyes. "Hanse was interested in the woman! They were unconscious! That's all I know, I swear!"

Devon released his shirt, and the man scurried to the furthest corner he could, uncaring whose limbs he stepped over.

"How long have you been watching the caravan?" I pressed, stepping forward with Freki sticking his snout into the cage.

The portly man growled and looked away. "Since you entered the pass."

"What's below the grate in the circular chamber?"

"No one knows. Only the boss. He's the only one who can access it."

I turned around. "What are we doing with them?"

A whimper came from behind me, but I ignored it and watched my mentor.

"We're not authority. What do you propose we do?"

"I… don't know."

"Then leave them and decide after the rescue," Devon grumbled as he started walking off.

I turned to follow, but the portly man rushed over, even as Freki bared his teeth. "I don't care who you are. Hanse won't lose. He's undefeated, even if you're a monster."

He spat at me, but the spit bounced off my cloak and slid to the floor. I shook my head and walked away, even as he rattled the cage, howling obscenities as I left.