Beyond the jungle was a far sturdier looking wall. Solid steel, it filled the tunnel. The surface was covered in depictions of various entities: ghouls, naturals, golems, children, and some that Kano didn’t even recognize. A robed figure towered over them all, and Kano assumed it represented the necromancer who’d made this place.

Kano turned to the little ghoul who’d led her here. “So, this is the way to your master?”

Her guide refused to look directly at the wall, though they glanced at it from the corner of their eye. “That’s right.” It seemed they’d given up on trying to ward her off with their silly warnings.

Inspecting the wall, Kano couldn’t see any way to get through. “Is there a door or something?” She could always cut her way through, but it felt like a waste. Particularly since she’d have to make an opening large enough for the others.

Shuffling its feet, the little ghoul shook their head. “I don’t know. When the guardians come through, the wall opens up.”

Kano turned to her companions. “Nove, you and the other one figure out how to get this open.” Perhaps her hangers-on could make themselves useful.

Stomping her way over to the wall, Nove looked it over before glancing back at Kano. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to watch and make sure you do a good job of it.”

They each spent a while inspecting part of the structure before Urick pressed a small switch built into the screaming mouth one of the figures. The central portion of it slid inward, revealing the way forward and six hulking ghoullike figures. They stood motionless, arrayed in two lines leading away from the wall. Though covered from head to toe in metal, it looked more like armor to Kano, rather than them being made of metal. Kano stepped forward.

“These are the guardians? They’re not even attacking.”

“They won’t harm you unless you go beyond the wall,” Thirty-Six said.

“Oh, so that’s how it works.” Keeping her eyes on the armored guards, Kano walked through the opening in the wall. Just as promised, once her foot touched the ground on the other side of the wall, they turned toward her in sync. If nothing else, Kano had to admit that whoever ran this place sure was good at brainwashing. The guardians’ obedience put Urick’s to shame.

Uninterested in waiting for them to make the first move when she knew they were going to attack her, Kano toggled her force field and slashed at the nearest of the six. Though she sliced through its armor with ease, it showed no reaction to the cut that had gone right through it. It seemed they were tougher than she’d excepted, but no matter. Raising its arms, the one she’d cut tried to grab her. With a casual sweep of her leg, she severed its legs at the knee. Leaving it to crumple to the ground, she advanced.

The next swung its large metallic fist at her, and she put her hand through its head. This too seemed to have no impact, and she was forced to dodge the blow. Already bored with fighting, she took a few steps back and called for Nove to come help.

She stood there, bobbing and weaving, as Nove bellowed her guttural war cry. Coming on at a run, she smashed into a guardian, spiked shoulder leading. The spikes skittered off the armor, but the momentum of her charge sent it stumbling into one of its fellows. They both hit the ground with a loud thud and flailed around as they tried to get up.

Though it took longer than Kano would have liked, they tore through the remaining three who still stood, then finished those who’d been downed. Picking up a severed head, Kano inspected it.

It was a combination of metal and organic components, not unlike Yon’s turret. It appeared they were something between a ghoul and a golem. She tossed the head at Thirty-Six’s feet. “See? We handled your guardians. No problem.”

The little creature’s eyes were bright as they stared at Kano, as if they’d been given new life. “That was amazing. I thought you would die like all the rest, but you’ve done the impossible. You must be the one who will free us from our bondage and bring us to the surface, you must be the savior.”

Kano blinked. What were they talking about? Savior? She hadn’t come here for them; she hadn’t even known they’d existed. But savior had a nice ring to it. “That’s right, I’m here to free you. Now bring me to your former master so that I might take his head as well.”

With a cry of joy and exultation, Thirty-Six hurried over to take the lead. Nove and Urick formed up behind Kano, and together they ventured deeper into the tunnel beyond the wall. Much like Thirty-Six’s village, the tunnel had no shortage of lights. The ground sloped downward, and they left the cracked concrete lining the walls behind. Walls of earth supported by iron beams took their place.

The tunnel gave way to a cavern, so large that Kano’s echolocation couldn’t reach the other side. From what it did tell her, she knew there were several blocky structures ahead, spread out around the cavern. There was no sign of additional guardians or any other creature. Closing her eyes, Kano went over the mental picture of the layout. Nothing stood out, though she could only make out limited details.

“Where to now?” she asked, turning to Thirty-Six.

“I don’t know. I’ve never been down here before.”

“I thought you were supposed to be a guide. What use is that if you don’t know the way? Is this really how you treat the savior of your people?” Was it so hard to get reliable help?

They bowed their head. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll do my best.” Though every building was lit, the surrounding darkness left them blind to everything beyond those that were closest. Thirty-Six hesitated, then pointed at one at random. “Maybe try that one?”

“Seems as good a choice as any,” Kano said.

As they were approaching, sirens blared all around them, and the lights changed to a dark red. Kano exhaled through her teeth. “Guess they finally noticed us.” She shouted a challenge at the cavern in general. “Come out and face us, necromancer!”

Someone did indeed emerge, stepping out from one of the buildings and walking toward them, but they didn’t look much like a necromancer. In Kano’s experience, they were small and unimpressive and wore dark, if not black, robes. This newcomer wore a flowing silver coat decorated with golden symbols. Though shorter than Nove, she was tall for a ghoul. Kano assumed they’d be a ghoul, but on closer inspection, she saw their features were much too fine for that, with eyes the color of tarnished copper. A natural, then, like her. She bore a carbine with a polished-chrome finish and a long magazine jutting out of the bottom.

Gun braced against her shoulder but not pointed at any of them, she stopped a short distance away. “Who the hell are you people?”

Kano glanced back at her followers. “I am the savior. I have come to destroy the necromancer who rules over this land.”

The armed woman’s purple lips tilted downward, and she raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh… I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. I have an arrangement with Gresitosis, and I’d hate for you to spoil it.”

Kano scoffed. Did this woman really think she could stop them? “I don’t care what you want, and you should be afraid. Now get out of the way before I have to kill you, too.”

All emotion drained away from her counterpart’s features, and she trained her gun on Kano’s center of mass. “So be it.”

The sound of gunfire filled the cavern, lasting only a moment. Dozens of bullets bounced off Kano’s force field. Even at the speed of thought, she’d barely gotten it up in time. Gresitosis’s lackey dropped her gun, apparently having run out of ammo. Sprinting toward her, Kano was surprised when another, identical firearm appeared in her opponent’s hands.

She emptied that one at her as well, to a similar lack of effect. Kano had almost reached the woman when she turned on her heel and fled. Moving far faster than expected, she kept out of Kano’s reach. She chased the gunwoman all the way to the building they’d first emerged from, and the chase continued inside.

As the woman ahead of her ran, metal spheres appeared in each of her hands. She dropped them, and Kano, expecting an explosive, activated her force field. But instead of shrapnel, all they produced was smoke. The necromancer’s servant repeated the process twice more before Kano lost sight of her. Unable to see anything at all, she stopped in her tracks. Though the smoke looked harmless, there was no way to be sure, and she couldn’t use her echolocation without lowering her force field.

Faced with the prospect of running blind through somewhere she’d never been while her energy was draining, Kano gave up. She backtracked and found her way back outside. Checking that there was no sign of the woman she’d been chasing, she switched off her field.

Nove lumbered over to her. “Did you get her?”

Kano shook her head. “I lost sight of her in the smoke.”

“Smoke?”

Not interested in elaborating, Kano crossed her arms. What were they supposed to do now? Leaving someone so dangerous behind them didn’t sit well with her, not when they could easily catch up. She’d much rather deal with them sooner rather than later. After instructing Nove to watch the entrance, she circled around the building.

Though the structure was large, as far as Kano could tell, it had no other exits. Well, if they didn’t want to come out, and she didn’t want to go in, then trapping them inside seemed like the best option. She returned to the entrance and jogged over to where Nove was still keeping watch. “Think you can make it so the door won’t open?”

Looking over the solid steel door with its simple lever handle, Nove nodded. “I’ll try.”

She pulled on the inner handle until it gave way with a metallic groan. Tossing the piece of twisted metal aside, she pushed the door closed. “Okay, that should do it.”