No single chamber was large enough for everyone, so groups were scattered amidst the rooms, hallways and chambers. The cool air quickly grew close and hot from the number of people, the only sound the occasional thunderous crash as something above them collapsed.

‘Is there any other escape from here?’

Tunera shook her head. ‘No, unless it’s behind one of the sealed doors. But there’s a monster sealed down here, so we’ve always left it alone. And no-one has ever been able to open the doors.’

Stathis remembered the glimpse of broken, scarred flesh she had seen, writhing in the mist. ‘Sensible. Do we have food and water?’

‘A little.’

‘Hopefully your father and the others will return shortly. The Witch must have slipped past them, they’re probably fighting through more monsters in the wilderness.’

Tunera looked her in the eye. ‘Knight Stathis, as my advisor, may we speak, in private conference?’

Without waiting for a response, she walked off, Stathis following, finding a currently empty room. The walls here were plain, bare rock except for a single rune of black char, daubed onto the stone. Both Stathis and Tunera kept their distance just in case it did something. Tunera sank against the wall with a heavy sigh, seeming almost to shrink, no longer having to keep up a façade of leadership.

‘I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. We’re going to die down here, aren’t we?’ The low red light picked out tears trickling down her cheeks, fragmenting the light like fine gems.

‘I won’t lie to you, this isn’t good. But we’re alive, we’ve neutralised their main forces, and down here she can’t use her powers to full advantage. If Semari can get close enough, then we win – I’ve never seen a caster that can manage when they’re pinned on the floor and Semari’s trying to rip their arms off. Wrestling is a little-known weakness of wizards, and tends to disrupts their powers when someone pulls them to the ground and starts making them punch themselves in the face.’

Tunera gave a brief snort of laughter, wiping the tears from her face. ‘Do you think she’ll come down here? She could just wait above us.’

‘She must know we have other forces, so she’ll probably want this to be fast. Do you know what she wants though? Your father said that she returns every few centuries to level this place.’

‘Something to do with the old legends. The dead creature down here, the spear and the witch are connected. But she shows up and has to be driven off. Although she’s rarely active for long, so she might depart soon, maybe?’

The ground rumbled and shook, dust falling from the ceiling. As the quaking stopped, there was a low, grumbling hiss from beneath them. ‘And the creature beneath, that’s never woken up?’

‘No. Although none of the doors here have ever opened.’

‘Right. That’s not the most comforting thought, although I guess if it’s never gotten out before, then it probably won’t get out now. Try and keep everyone calm, make sure no-one’s bleeding on anything occult or getting entranced into doing stupid stuff, and we’ll guard the entrance.’ She smiled at Tunera, trying to be reassuring. ‘It’s shit, but stressing about it won’t help matters. We do what we can – there’s no use worrying about what might have been better. And keep that spear close, it’s probably going to be useful.’

Tunera sniffed again, wiping her face. ‘This sucks.’

‘Yeah, it does. You’re holding up well, though. Shit like this is why I’m here.’ Tunera looked at her, not following. ‘I do technically have somewhere that I’m meant to inherit myself. But all this, hundreds living or dying by my choice? I’m going to have to do it someday, but sure as hell not when I was your age! So I went out to get some experience and stuff.’ She sighed. ‘Didn’t entirely expect it to end up like this, but I suppose it’s good experience. If we live, at least. Seriously, you’re doing OK. It’s fine to be terrified, but you’ll have to hide it when dealing with the others.’

Tunera gave her an impulsive hug, still gripping the spear so it clanged off Stathis’ armour. ‘We’ll make it through. Semari will rip that witch’s arms off!’

‘Please don’t encourage her to do that. It’s really messy, and not as effective as just stabbing them. Anyway, we should find everyone else, otherwise people will start to wonder what’s happening.’

They left the chamber, passing through the rest of the underground complex, each room filled with clusters and groups of people, trying to make themselves comfortable against the walls. Some had bought belongings, cloth and fabric made into primitive bedding and to make the ground a little less uncomfortable. Semari was dozing, looking entirely too comfortable sprawled out in a corner, twitching and grunting in her slumber. Parth was on watch, stood ready to fire if anything approached down the stairs. The continual drip-drip-drip of water trickling down the stairs did little to help, water pooling at the bottom, tainted with ash and rubble, threatening to seep into other rooms.

Hakara had a room to herself, the walls covered with her chalk scratchings, some glowing with a pale blue light. Stathis kept her distance, raising her voice to be heard. ‘Is it safe to get closer?’

The blue lights pulsed, Hakara finishing an incantation. ‘Yes, but please move carefully.’

Stathis made sure not to step near anything that was moving or glowing. ‘You doing OK? What is all of this?’

‘I am attempting to divert the powers of this place to form some level of protection, without draining my own resources to excess.’

‘Nice. So what does this do?’

‘If a spellcaster other than myself were to cast a spell within the bounds of this chamber, it should seal itself and trap them, for a time at least.’

‘When you say “a time”, do you mean “a few minutes”, “hours” or “years”?’

‘Very much the former, I’m afraid, and that is being optimistic. But it may be of some use. And I have warned Miss Janaxia and Master Gervint to stay away, as it would trigger for them as well.’

‘Thanks. So if we can shove her in here, then we can buy some time. Where are Gervint and Janaxia, anyway? Is Gervint hiding away in his sanctum again?’

‘I believe so, yes.’

‘Well, I suppose it is more comfortable. Is he at least letting others in? He must be able to summon a bigger one than you can.’

‘Yes, he has allowed some of the smaller children access, to slumber in peace.’

‘That’s nicer than I expected. And keeps them out of the way. And Janaxia?’

‘Miss Janaxia I saw in the chamber with the lectern and that strange disc. She appeared, ah, rather depressed. She does not appear to be handling matters well.’ She flicked her fingers, a piece of chalk moving and daubing a mark onto the floor.

‘Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with her recently, she said something about Gervint taking against her.’

‘This is, perhaps, not the best time for such discussions? Although I am aware that there is a certain friction between Master Gervint and those that, uh, fail to fully apply themselves to arcane knowledge. He is wise, but perhaps not the most kind. Although it is something to be thankful for that he hasn’t noticed the full scope of her, um, differences.’

‘I guess. So, you need anything?’

‘I believe I am replete for now.’ She waved her fingers, more circles of power sparking into life. She blinked, looking uncertain. ‘Do you think we will survive?’

‘We’ve been through worse. I think? Just blast her with everything you’ve got if you can, and keep an eye out for air elementals sneaking in. Any idea what she might be doing up there?’ The ground shook and quaked again. ‘That can’t be good.’

‘The creature beneath us is tied to the earth, in a chthonic fashion. I don’t know what she wants though. These tunnels appear old and stable though.’ Another quake, more dust falling from above.

‘Hopefully Janaxia not getting possessed by ancient demons or doing anything else stupid.’

‘I would hope so. I’m sure I will have time to shout should an enemy attack, and hopefully Miss Semari will wake from her slumber soon.’

‘Thanks for your help. And I wouldn’t count on it, I’ve seen her sleep through a lot louder than this. Just poke her if you need her, that normally gets her up. And I’ll let everyone else know not to come into here unless they want to set off a magical trap.’

It didn’t take long to do a tour of the chambers, consisting of a long passageway with branching chambers – Tunera was doing a similar circuit, buoying everyone’s spirits as best she could, Brand assisting her.