Chương 15: Claim the Castle

Morning showed every place the barricade had failed. One chair had lost a leg. Claws had opened the cabinet's veneer in long, pale strips, and the lower corner sagged where the larger remnant had forced its head through. Someone had packed the gap beneath it with torn cloth and moulding scraps overnight. Gareth's jacket made up most of the final layer. Thomas crouched beside the damage with the maintenance log balanced on his knee. Lower barricade requires replacement.

Cabinet cannot withstand another sustained impact. Possible entry gap at floor level. Will stood over him with one hand resting on the cabinet. His eyes were red from exhaustion, and a dark bruise had spread beneath the collar of his shirt where the timber had driven into his shoulder.

"This won't last another night," he said. Thomas closed the log.

"The next thing through that gap will take part of your foot with it." Will looked down at his boots.

"Margaret would be upset."

"She does seem attached to the current number of your limbs." Will gave a tired chuckle, then winced as he tried to roll his shoulder. Thomas stood and took some of the cabinet's weight while he eased away. Most of the chapel slept around them. People had settled wherever there was room, wrapped in coats, blankets, tablecloths, and two of those emergency foil sheets that crackled whenever anyone moved. Amy slept against Priya's shoulder. Daniel's burned leg rested on a folded jacket.

Gareth had stretched out near the wall after insisting that sitting was enough rest. The core-light prototype sat in the centre of the floor to cool. Daylight exposed every hurried joint in its frame. One side now leaned slightly higher than the other, and the new insulation around the slide had blistered during the final attack. Chloe held out her hand as Thomas passed. He gave her the log and pencil, and she settled beside the prototype with the book across her knees.

She crossed out something he had written, added three lines of her own, tucked the pencil behind her ear, then tested the slide. Marcus stood near the chapel window, listening to the castle. He had removed his jacket and wrapped a strip of cloth around the cut in his hand, though blood had already worked through it. Pale morning light crept down the wall beside him. Thomas opened his status. He skipped past most of it and found Presence. Presence: 27 One point from reaching level six. Another from the quest.

He knew the attribute helped him make his intent clearer through the bond. He could work with that. The reward for coordinating the defence was harder to settle with. Marcus had waited for his warnings. Chloe had shut down the prototype when he called for it. Will had lowered the brace because Thomas said the next thing would hit near the floor. He looked at the gap again. He'd been guessing about the larger one until it was almost at the door. Next time, he wanted to give more warning.

Eleanor crossed the chapel carrying a visitor map and a red marker. The map had split along one fold and was stained at the edge with somebody's tea or blood.

"We need to talk before people wake up," she said. Marcus left the window and joined her at a stone ledge along the wall. Margaret came over with the ration list in one hand and half a protein bar in the other. Chloe remained beside the prototype until Eleanor looked at her.

"You too. Gareth can answer from where he is."

"I heard that," Gareth muttered from the wall.

"Good. Stay comfortable." Eleanor shifted aside so he could see the map. Chloe brought the log over and sat beside the ledge. Eleanor spread the map out. It showed Richmond Castle as a clean arrangement of visitor paths, labelled features, and cheerful arrows. The chapel occupied a small box near the edge. The workshop did not appear at all. She drew a circle around the chapel.

"We got through the night because everything came to one entrance. That also means one blocked corridor cuts us off from the workshop, water, and anyone still elsewhere in the castle. We need more space under control before darkness comes back." Marcus leaned over the map.

"How much space?"

"Enough to function. I want a clear route to the workshop. We need access to the visitor facilities and whatever water remains in the plumbing. Priya needs a treatment area that people aren't walking through every time they want food." Priya spoke without opening her eyes.

"And clean clothes. Add that." Eleanor marked the workshop route from memory, then handed the marker to Chloe.

"Correct this." Chloe studied the public map.

"This turn is wrong. It sends visitors past the display corridor because they don't need to know about the staff door. The actual route cuts behind it." She redrew the line, then added another short branch.

"Maintenance cupboard here. Breakers, cleaning supplies, spare brackets, old fixtures. Assuming nobody emptied it."

"I didn't," Gareth said. Chloe looked toward him.

"Half of it was gone when I was looking."

"Workshop cabinet." He rubbed at his eyes.

"Visitors kept stealing the screwdrivers. No idea what for." Chloe smiled faintly.

"You could have told me."

"Forgot, didn't I." Eleanor tapped the map with the marker cap.

"Where?"

"Workshop wall cabinet. Lower left. Some in the service cupboard by the toilets. There's a tool chest in the north store, but that route takes you farther from the chapel." Marcus pointed at the service corridor Chloe had drawn.

"How many doors between here and the workshop?"

"Three. One fire door, one staff door, workshop door. The staff door sticks when it's damp."

"Lift it up with the handle," Gareth said.

"Bottom hinge is going." Chloe added a small mark beside the door. Marcus traced the route with his finger.

"Corners?"

"Just two turns."

"Any access from below?" Chloe hesitated.

"There's a stair near the visitor centre. It doesn't open directly onto this corridor, but something could come up and cut across." Thomas pictured the route. He had walked it often enough during ordinary shifts, usually carrying paperwork or getting the answer to a question from a tourist. The castle felt different in memory after the night they had survived. Every narrow turn now offered cover. Every service door could trap them on the wrong side.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Margaret placed her ration sheet over the lower corner of the map to stop it from curling.

"Water first after the workshop," she said.

"The bottles we have might last today if people are careful. Tomorrow will be a problem. There should be water in the toilet cisterns, and the pipes may still hold pressure." Marcus looked at her.

"Enough for everyone?"

"I don't know yet." Margaret smoothed a crease in the ration sheet.

"We'll count what we find. Until then, I'm keeping a bottle aside for the children."

"We'll need containers," Eleanor said.

"And somewhere to boil it." Chloe tapped the workshop mark.

"There are electric kettles in the staff room. We can carry water in those. I'll look for something we can heat."

"Can your core do heat?" Margaret asked.

"It already does too much heat."

"So just some way to control it?" Chloe looked down at the prototype.

"Eventually. The reflector is converting some output into light. A different housing might concentrate heat instead, but I'm several burns away from pretending I know how." Priya opened both eyes.

"Does that still hurt?"

"Only when I—" Chloe started to close her hand and stopped.

"Then leave it alone. Please. I will try to heal it again soon." Chloe lowered it into her lap. Priya eased Amy's head off her shoulder and settled her against a folded coat. Eleanor reclaimed the marker.

"Workshop, then water. The gate needs attention before tonight as well." Marcus's finger remained on the route map.

"We need to see the corridor before we commit people to the gate. The redcaps already know that approach. They may have returned while we were busy here." Thomas looked toward the chapel entrance. The barghest remnants had come from below. The redcaps had spread through the open gate with hooked blades and an iron bar. He remembered one breaking away toward the stairs.

"They went for Chloe," he said. Marcus looked at him.

"At the gate. She was trying to lower the portcullis, and they kept going for the stairs. They knew what she was doing." Chloe's hand stopped over the log.

"You think they'll come back?"

"Yes." Thomas heard how certain the answer sounded. All five were dead, but he'd seen more small shapes beyond the gate afterwards. The last attacker had tried to get out before the portcullis closed. It had understood the danger.

"There were more outside after we shut it," he said.

"And if the castle is waking according to its old functions, the gate might matter to them too." Eleanor circled the gate's position on the map.

"We inspect it after the workshop route. We can change the order if the corridor is compromised." Marcus nodded.

"Small group first. Everyone else remains here until we know the route is clear." The marker paused in Eleanor's hand. A pressure settled over the chapel, faint enough that Thomas first mistook it for the exhaustion behind his eyes. Marcus straightened. Margaret looked up from the map. Chloe's attention snapped away from the prototype. ┌────────────────────────────┐ Event Quest: Secure the Castle Objective: Establish controlled access over Richmond Castle's core refuge zone.

Required: Chapel, Workshop route, Water access, Primary gate route Reward: Area recognition. Experience. Minor attribute increase for contributors. └────────────────────────────┘ The window faded. Gareth raised his head from the wall.

"I assume that was another quest." Eleanor read it aloud for the people who hadn't gotten the screen. A few of the sleepers woke at the sound of her voice. Amy blinked at the map, then at the battered barricade.

"What does area recognition do?" she asked.

"I don't know, hopefully it helps us hold the place." Chloe set the log aside and pinched at her cheeks trying to wake up faster.

"The refuge boundary already includes the chapel. The System wants us to extend control through the rest of the marked area." Marcus kept his finger on the workshop route.

"It wants the same things we need. That doesn't make the route safer."

"No," Chloe said.

"It does mean fixed lighting becomes more important. Carrying the prototype around will put Thomas's warning problem everywhere we go. If I can mount a core-light at a controlled point, I can shield one side and direct the output toward the floor or corridor." Thomas pictured mana moving through the chapel stone.

"Mounting it may send the pulse deeper into the wall."

"Then I insulate the mount."

"The stone carried it through the ceramic base."

"I know." Chloe's answer came too quickly. She took the pencil from behind her ear and turned it between her fingers.

"I need better ceramic and a metal that doesn't become part of the path," she continued.

"The workshop may have something useful. Thick electrical isolators, old fuse blocks, mounting plates. If the materials keep failing, I need enough pieces to learn why." Marcus looked at her bandaged hand.

"You're not carrying the prototype on the sweep."

"I can carry it."

"With that injured hand? If we have to run?" Chloe got up and crouched beside the housing. A loose strip of insulation had curled away from the slide. She tucked it back with her thumb.

"We're all injured and I don't see that stopping anyone else."

"Leave it here," Eleanor said.

"If those things reach us while you're gone, we'll need it."

"You saw what happened last night. It draws them."

"I saw what it did when they got in, too. Show me the shutoff before you leave." Marcus began assigning positions. He would lead, with Thomas close behind to watch for mana movement. Chloe and Gareth would follow them. Will would guard the rear. The team would return after checking the workshop route even if everything appeared clear. Eleanor listened, then added, "Thirty minutes." Marcus glanced at her.

"If you aren't back in thirty minutes, I start moving people away from this entrance. The Great Chamber gives us more room if the chapel route is cut."

"It also has more approaches."

"I know. I'm choosing between bad options. Give me a time." Marcus checked his watch even though it had stopped during the integration. His mouth tightened as he lowered his wrist.

"Half an hour, as close as we can judge. If we're delayed, we all come back."

"Even if we've nearly finished?" Chloe asked.

"Yes. They need to know we're alive." She glanced at Amy, who was sitting up and listening now.

"Okay." Eleanor wrote WORKSHOP AND BACK across the top of the map while Marcus checked the entrance. He pressed his weight against the damaged cabinet, tested the remaining chair, then pointed at the low gap.

"We need a replacement before tonight." Will picked up the reinforced length of railing he had prepared. He'd wrapped cloth around one end to protect his hands.

"Back to the workshop then." Thomas moved closer to the map. The marked service route looked simple on the paper. He remembered the actual corridor: uneven flooring, two turns, a fire door, a section where the modern wall narrowed against the older masonry. He activated Study, holding the remembered stretch in his mind as he followed the line on the map. The familiar pressure formed behind his eyes. The map blurred, then the information settled across his vision.

┌────────────────────────────┐ Richmond Castle: Internal Route Function: Chapel to workshop access State: Partially controlled Risk: Moderate Notes: Active mana residue present. Structural memory favours controlled passage and defensive chokepoints. └────────────────────────────┘ He knew those turns. He'd been worrying about what might hide behind them. Holding them from the other side hadn't occurred to him. Thomas read the result aloud. Marcus leaned over the map again.

"Which sections count as chokepoints?"

"The fire door. Both turns. Possibly the narrow wall near the visitor corridor."

"Can the castle identify where the mana residue came from?"

"The result didn't say." Chloe stepped closer to the map.

"Residue from the core-light could still be in the route. The remnants followed the pulse that way last night."

"Then we assume the lower access remains active," Marcus said.

"Thomas checks each turn before we move through it." Eleanor drew short lines across the fire door and narrow section.

"These become control points if the route is clear. We need a way to mark when they've been checked."

"Chalk," Gareth said.

"Workshop drawer near the sink. We use it for labels."

"Good. Bring some back." Thomas released Study and rubbed his brow until the mild ache began to ease. Preparations disturbed the sleeping chapel. Margaret gave Will and Thomas water and made each of them eat part of a ration bar. She caught the loose cloth around Will's railing and tightened it. Will started to reach for it, then let her finish. He covered her hand with his for a moment before taking the railing back.

Chloe filled a canvas tool pouch, removed half of what she had packed after Marcus looked inside, then added the screwdriver back when he turned away. Gareth borrowed a heavy glove for his good hand. Before closing the pouch, Chloe knelt beside the prototype with Eleanor. She marked the slide's limit and showed Eleanor where to grip the handle.

"In for light. Out to shut it down. Only if they reach the barricade. Count to forty and pull it out sooner if the handle starts heating up. Then leave it at least four minutes for the mana to disperse from the frame." Eleanor repeated the instructions, then practised finding the handle while keeping her eyes on the barricade. Chloe checked that the slide was fully out before she stood. Priya changed the dressing on Marcus's palm while he stood beside the barricade.

Marcus put his jacket on slowly, keeping the bandaged hand clear of the cuff. Eleanor knelt beside Amy and explained what to do if the expedition returned under attack. Amy asked her to repeat where the injured should go, then moved a bag out of the way herself. Margaret placed two people near the barricade to help close it once the team left. The others shifted away from the entrance, taking blankets and bags. Thomas closed his hand around the spearhead. Mana moved through the bond.

Gold spread from the old iron and formed the spear shaft into his grip. The weapon settled faster than it had the day before. Its weight felt clearer, the point easier to hold in line with the entrance. Marcus noticed the formation and stepped to the cabinet.

"Ready?" Will took position beside him. Chloe tightened the tool pouch around her waist. Gareth stood behind her with his injured arm tucked against his body. Eleanor folded the map and held it out to Marcus.

"Workshop and back. We can plan the water route after you return." Marcus put the map inside his jacket. He and Will shifted the cabinet aside. The damaged chair dragged across the stone, opening a gap wide enough for one person at a time. Cold air entered from the corridor. Marcus went through first. Will followed and took the opposite side. Thomas stepped into the opening with the spear angled ahead of him. The corridor remained empty, though old mana lingered somewhere beyond the first turn.

Chloe and Gareth passed through behind him. Will waited beside the opening until they were clear, then took his place at the rear. The people inside the chapel pulled the cabinet back into place. Wood scraped across stone until the gap narrowed to a line of grey morning light.