Chương 115: Chapter 114- The Cavern

Astra's POV Ms Fletcher was standing at the door, ear pressed against the cool stone. Elias had waved her forward to check before they opened the door; however, she was not standing there with wariness or tension but rather with a look of confusion on her face. She whispered to the silent group in a low voice, " I'm not really sure what's on the other side, it sounds like a big space, open and airy, and there are definitely a lot of people in there, but it's quiet.

I can't hear anyone talking, just a lot of breathing." She shrugged before looking at Astra, " I don't know what to tell you my Lady, that's all I hear?" Astra waved Mr Cooper forwards, " Nothing else for it then, if you please Mr Cooper." The party arrayed themselves in formation, just in case, and when he slowly pressed the heavy stone doors open, the sight before them was one no one had been expecting. They must have traveled fairly far underground as the entryway opened into a wide open cavern.

The space was roughly oval, maybe a hundred paces by a hundred and fifty, the ceiling rose to nearly forty feet high in places. The air was damp and cool as a large dark stream could be seen cutting through space along the right side of the cavern before vanishing under a rock ledge in the distance, and in front her Astra saw a confusing array of ropes and floor markings in chalk aligned in columns. The silence of the still air was eerie.

The quiet was only occasionally broken by the drip of water or the low burble of the stream, although something low could be heard in the distance, echoing faintly in the chamber. As she rounded an outcropping, her eyes tracing along the lines of ropes, Astra took in a sharp breath as she caught sight of the left side of the cavern. Pens. Not cages, prison bars, or a disorderly array of tents, but pens. Pens that were not filled with livestock, but humans. People. Her people.

Amongst the scattering of stalagmites along the wall there were a series of small enclosures, some were well made wrought iron structures, but as they sprawled into the distance the construction quality dwindled. The purpose of ropes and columns arrayed on the floor was made apparent; they had been used for sorting the occupants of the different enclosures. Some of the pens were filled, packed to the brim with the missing townsfolk and villagers, as they stared listlessly into the dark.

Some were seated, some laid down on the stone, and some stood, but only a few drifted amongst each other whispering in soft low tones. The tension in her chest loosened, as she nearly wept in relief at finding someone, anyone still alive here in the dark. In the deepest recesses of her mind she had begun to worry that they would find nothing but bodies and twisted horrors in this place. As her gaze drifted across the scene before her however, the anger simmered just a little higher at every detail.

The watering buckets and feeding troughs were bad enough, but as a gust of wind hit her face bringing the awful stench of the unwashed masses, forced to relieve themselves where they stood, she began to notice more than just their enclosures. Their dirty and sweat stained clothes wove a tale of long days spent in the dark, the dried crust of some undefinable slurry on the edges of the feeding troughs of many many meals being distributed.

The worst was not the pens packed tight with her missing people, gathered by the score and separated by gender, age, race and more. No, the worst sight was the pens that stood empty, the doors open stirring slightly in the soft breeze as they swung back and forth with a low creak. Her heart ached at the prospect of what that meant. Yes, there were a couple hundred alive before her eyes, but how many had filled those pens. How many were we too late to save?

Astra had expected a clamor, joyous shouts welcoming their saviors, but those dead and vacant eyes showed just how many people had walked through these doors at the front of the cavern, bringing no salvation in their wake. The men and women of her party had frozen behind her, in just as much shock as she was, but they shook loose as Astra strode forward to the first pen within her reach. Few of the occupants noticed her approach, and those who did turned away after a glance.

There was no rush to the bars, but as she stepped within a couple dozen feet of the first group, one wizened old man stood his eyes fixed on her breastplate. He took a few shuffling steps forward to the bars of the pen before wrenching his eyes upwards to her face staring.

His eyes were glued to her hair, his gaze pinned to the trademark curly crimson tresses of her family for a long moment before his eyes dropped back to her face, tears welling in his eyes as he gripped the bars, knuckles white, stuttering in disbelief." E-E-Em- ber." He pointed one gnarled finger at her breastplate, as if his tremelous tone voiced a question he almost dared not ask, " Emberholdt?"

Astra stripped her gauntlets off, tucking them in her belt, as she grabbed the reaching hand and answered in the warmest tone she could muster her voice thick with emotion, " Aye, we've come for you."

Upon hearing the name of her clan another figure shuffled forward, a matronly woman reaching through the bars as Astra reached and clasped the woman's hands with her other one, tears welling in her eyes as she answered the question in her hopeful eyes with a shaky voice, " Aye, we're here now, we've come for all of you." This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

As her words traveled through the still air of the dark cavern, more and more heads turned, and within moments the room erupted the cries she had been so desperate to hear sounding out, and for just a moment Astra allowed herself a brief respite. She banished the image of those empty pens from her mind, focusing on the ones before her, filled with her missing people as she joined them, weeping in relief. A stern voice from the past filled her mind as she closed her eyes and wept, uncaring of who would see.

Dwell not on those you could not save, rather it is best for you to focus on those whom you still can.

Some time passed, both for Astra to gather her composure after the relief of finding at least some of the missing citizenry, and also for the clamor to settle. The panicked cries that her relief force was not enough were eventually settled as the survivors were reassured that many more soldiers waited outside and would be joining them soon.

Many of the survivors headed straight for the stream, cleaning their faces and taking deep gulps of the cool water, while others simply lay on the ground and wept at finally being free from their enclosures, able to fully stretch their limbs for the first time in weeks. Most were utterly inconsolable, and it took a while for Mr Mason to bring her a person coherent enough to give her a brief recounting of their tale.

She was a short but stout woman with sharp eyes, although the looseness of her clothes and the gaunt hollows in her cheeks was evidence that her time in the cavern had been anything but comfortable, despite being one of the few who maintained her wits. Her tale was fairly similar to what Astra had already suspected, the woman had been a laborer back in Whittenburg.

Her previous work had been for a trading company helping shift supplies at one of their warehouses, loading and unloading caravans, until the company started to run out of business. Once the work dried up, she had needed to find new work and had been enticed to travel to the Estate after hearing of the Viscount's offer. She and many others had been put to work around the castle, but never in the keep itself. Some had eventually been assigned to tasks in the inner keep but never returned.

Over time, as more and more disappeared, and they had asked the staff, but no matter who they asked, they had simply been told that they were helping with a special project at the manor. The woman grunted, " Weren't long before I was told I was being transferred to the 'special project' too." She glanced back over giving a belated, " Milady." Astra waved her off, the woman was able to confirm that she had been down in the cavern for a couple weeks, but that she was unable to tell how long in the dark below ground.

She was even able to confirm that at some point a large group of bound captives arrived, and the whispers around the pens were that they had been dragged from somewhere out on the frontier. When pressed, she grimaced before telling Astra that they had been the first ones to go." Go where?" The woman paled, before pointing toward a hallway at the far end of the cavern with a finger that shook slightly before steadying." Through there."

She frowned, staring into the darkness, " I don't rightly know what happens down there, but anyone who goes through there doesn't come back." She went silent for a moment, before swallowing and turning back to Astra, " Only the robed ones ever come out of there milady." Astra thanked the woman for her time before gathering the squad leaders together, the rest of the troops scattering amongst the civilians to canvas for injuries and other issues while they spoke.

The group stood at the end of the line of the pens speaking in low voices so their words would not carry out to the gathering masses beyond. She glanced around the space for a moment to ensure they would not be overheard, before heaving a sigh and addressing the collected men and women." I commend you all for your excellent work so far, we have recovered quite a few of the missing, but our mission currently stands half finished."

Astra gestured with a thumb over her shoulder to the tunnel leading deeper into the shadows before continuing, " We have yet to find the ritual and, while we do not yet know what we will find, a couple escorts will not suffice to lead this group to freedom. So far the victims in the tunnels have been docile, but we can not guarantee that will hold, nor that there may have been traps or other issues that we may have missed."

She steeled herself, " As much as I am reluctant to split the war party, I would be remiss in my duties if we did not rescue those we could, when we could." Mr Cooper spoke in a gruff voice while Mr Mason shook his head behind him, " Yer not going anywhere without your guards my Lady, full stop." She held up both hands in a placating gesture, " I was not suggesting that Mr Cooper, just that we detach 3rd and 5th to escort the civilians to safety.

The only addition I was considering was possibly sending Ms Farrier with them." Mr Mason shook his head, " Sorry my Lady, but heading deeper into danger without a healer is a recipe for disaster. Last I spoke with her there was little she could do for the mutated ones at the moment and, while this group doesn't have any I've seen, any minor injuries they have should hold until they leave the keep." Astra nodded, " Aye, that was my estimation as well. Hence why it was a suggestion and not an order.

Gentlemen, any issues with detaching?" Mr Miller shifted uneasily glancing at Mr Cooper and Mason before speaking, " No my Lady. I don't much like you only having so few men at your side, but your point stands. 3rd stands ready and I'm sure 5th does too." He glanced over to check that he received a nod in agreement before turning back, " Do you have any orders for the Captain?"

Astra looked up to the cavern ceiling trying to judge for herself how long they had been trekking through the tunnels, grimacing as she discovered she did not like the answer. Unease and indecision filled her, as she glanced over at Elias, he gave her a subtle nod and as he sent a wave of resolve and reassurance down the tether she turned back to Mr Miller. Her resolve firmed as she spoke, " Prepare for a full evacuation."" Our time runs thin, but our duty remains unchanged.

We march on, and if he does not hear further from us he is to assume we have failed and get our people to safety. At this point more men will likely not help the assault, but will greatly assist in an evacuation." She fixed Mr Miller with an imperious gaze as she drew herself up to her full height, " If this is the last time we meet, seek out my father and tell him we met our end on our feet, with fire in our hearts and cold steel in our hands."

The crash of steel on steel was her response as the men came to attention and saluted in response." Ash and Steel." She gave them a genuine smile, " Born and bound, gentlemen. May the winds be at your backs, you may yet need it." As the pair departed to see their duties fulfilled, Astra's gaze drifted over to the dark opening in the far wall with a pensive gaze. A warm hand gripping hers startled her out of her thoughts as a weight also pressed into her thigh.

She glanced down to run one hand over Tia's sinuous neck before her eyes followed the hand in her other, as she traced up the dark leather covered arm to Eli's grim expression. He met her eyes for a long moment, she marveled a bit at the sensation as she could faintly feel him probing her emotions from the other end of the tether. For a long moment he simply held her gaze. Then, almost imperceptibly, his expression softened into a still grim but noticeable smile.

"Together."