Missteps V.2

Chapter 43 – End of an Era

Iados did feel a little guilty about just abandoning his 'buddy' Elaine, but he knew Carric would back her up. Besides, he'd seen an opportunity to go up and over, and who was he to deny it? He did have to admit though, he was not expecting the giant frog.

He'd barely taken more than a few steps over the top of the ten-foot wide wall, before a sharp whistle had pierced the air, and a monster of a creature bounded in a single leap to a spot just in front of him.

Iados had nearly fallen off the wall in shock. The frog itself was a dark green color, and had blended in with the shadowy nook on the other side of the wall. Its eyes were large with irises that were nearly the same size of the eyeball, save for a small ring of white on the outside.

The frog struck out with its tongue, and Iados just barely managed to duck under it. He did get a good look at the inside of its mouth, and quickly came to the realization that he didn't want anywhere near the massive gums of the creature.

Iados ducked and rushed at the frog as it attempted to hit with its tongue once again. This time he was ready. He aimed at the soft underbelly of the creature with one, two, and three punches. Each hit was deep into the soft tissue, and the frog cried out in protest each time. Iados spared a glance over towards his 'buddy', and almost laughed.

Hoklem's attention was purely centered on Carric, as she chased him around the small area in the back of the grove in a game of keep away. Carric was just quick enough on his feet to keep out of reach of her sword, and still launch an arrow at her every so often.

Just a few feet away, Elaine furiously shook the unconscious form of Ander, to no avail. She was surrounded by three shrubs as she tried to simultaneously shield and awaken the halfling. Frustrated, she slapped him.

Ander jerked awake and immediately put a hand up to his face. "What the hell?"

"Nice of you to join us." Elaine stood up and readied her mace. "Care to help out?"

Above him a shrub reached out to attack him, and Ander rolled out of the way. He popped up on his feet. He glanced over and saw that Lia was still being attacked by the flaming ball of fire.

Lia pushed the hot sphere to the side with her staff and ducked away from it again. Before it had the chance to attack her again, she sprinted towards the druid Aniksil. By the time she'd reached him, Aniksil barely dodged the large dire wolf that lunged at him.

"That's how you want to play, then so be it." Aniksil laughed as he reached and pumped one more healing spell into his daughter Pova, before he crouched down. His body morphed into a large orange cat with black strips. With a snarl, the Tiger-Aniksil attacked Bitey.

Back over with Ander, the small halfling watched as the two threats facing him (an angry bush and a large ball of fire) were both taken out by a large frog. Ander flicked his eyes up, just in time for Iados to grin at him.

The akudaem disappeared over the side of the wall. His landing on the other side was not smooth as his foot slid on the sludge that peppered the ground on this side. Seeing as this was where the frog had been previously, Iados chose not to think about what was currently all over his pants and arms as he stood up. Just as he got to his feet, another piercing wail emanated from the tree that was just before Iados, and three shrubs came to life around him.

On the other side, Jun found himself surrounded on all sides by not only angry plants, but also by Drokrow. Drokrow was just as hindered by the plants in his ability to hit Jun, as Jun was to hit the young dark elf. The main difference was that the plants only attacked Jun, but in Jun's verta-kochen-filled state, he didn't pay any attention to the small scratches given by the shrubs.

Kerri found herself feeling slighted. After that first interaction with Drokrow, he'd found Jun to be more worthy his time and had wasted no time in turning away from her. A part of her wanted to just stand there and ram her rapier repeatedly into Drokrow's back, but a louder part of her told her to use this apparent invisibility to the shrubs to their advantage. She got as close to two shrubs as she could, and murmured a spell song to herself. On the final note, she stomped and let loose the wave of force that turned both shrubs into splinters.

She didn't have time to relish in her victory. Three darts made of a blinding light buried themselves in her gut in quick succession. She momentarily lost her ability to breathe as she clutched her abdomen. She looked up and made eye contact with Pova. The magic-user smirked and brought her hand up once again.

Just then a large dire wolf bounded past her towards Aniksil.

Kerri staggered to the side and stood up straight. She cupped her hands together and sang out for the dire wolf.

"Animal Forms and Whips of Thorn

Barely scratch the surface

Up in a tree or Bitey's feed

Are your only choices

Better beware cause Lia's here

Offering her service

She'll take you on and beat you down

And leave you for the rodents."

As Pova turned her attention back towards the bard, her gaze was caught by the sight of a figure as it dropped onto the other side of the wall. She hurried over to the entryway, and once she had sight of the akudaem wasted no time in sending an icy blast his way. It missed and hit the sludge under his feet.

Ander shot a bolt of fire from his fingertip at the remaining shrub near him and Elaine. He grinned as it burst into flames and quickly collapsed in on itself. As the shrub collapsed, he saw Pova send her frosty ray into the enclosure.

The halfling cursed and dug out his diamond. He palmed the jewel as he chanted his spell. Inside a small fire sprang to life within the diamond. He pointed the jewel towards Pova and released the magic. A four-diameter ray of fire shot out towards the other mage. The ray shot past the end of Pova's nose and took out a chunk of the rock wall behind her. Pova barely spared a glance towards the halfling before she took off towards the enclosure. She ducked around the corner of the entryway, out of sight of the wizard.

Iados barely registered that she was there on the other side of the enclosure as he wrestled with the three shrubs. It was hard to fight when your feet slid all over the ground, but he managed it.

At the end of the grove, Hoklem had given up on Carric, and instead found herself in a face-off with Elaine. The two of them traded blows, her sword against Elaine's mace, with Hoklem getting more hits in than Elaine. The cleric brought her mace up and blocked another of Hoklem's attack, the force of the blow vibrating down her arms. As she shoved the more experienced fighter away, she sent a quick prayer to Vowil, and the words allowed her to recover at least a few measures of strength.

The dark elf twisted their body and made to stab at Elaine, but suddenly gave a strangled cry as an arrow embedded itself in her back. Hoklem's eyes rolled up into her eyes, and she collapsed to the ground.

Immediately Elaine crouched down next to Hoklem. She recited a quick prayer to Vowil as the holy symbol on her bracelet glowed. She laid her hand on Hoklem's back, and for a split second the unconscious form held a yellow aura. The light died down, and the dark elf's wounds no longer bled.

"What was that?" Carric's eyebrow was up as he held an arrow pointed at the downed body.

Elaine stood up. "You heard Lia, no one dies. Don't worry, I didn't heal her enough to bring her back to conscious." She picked up her mace and turned to look behind her. She watched Kerri let loose another wave of force, the clap causing lose dirt to rain down from the ceiling, as she took out another couple of shrubs. Farther down, the dire wolf and tiger were in a battle all their own as they growled, lunged, and twisted around each other.

Kerri moved around to the next shrub, and with a mighty stomp took out the last of the shrubs that impeded Jun. She pumped her arms, took a step back, and sang out for the berserker.

"Up in the mornin' with the risin' sun!

Here's a fighter that will make you run!

Heavy is the hammer that he swings real quick!

Into the ground and walls you'll stick!

Berserker Champion!

When you see him comin' you better hide!"

Jun roared as the song strengthened his swing. He made contact with Drokrow, the white light flashing out from the blow. Drokrow staggered back from the hardest hit Jun had delivered him thus far. Before he could fully get his bearings, Carric sent his arrow straight into the young dark elf's shoulder. Drokrow collapsed unconscious onto his back. Elaine rushed forward and did the same aura on him that she'd done on Hoklem.

A few feet away from this scene, the two magic-users traded blasts of magic. Ander was hunkered behind a large boulder as he threw his red and orange bolts in Pova's direction. Pova was still huddled behind the corner of the wall, but she had a better vantage point, and had already gotten Ander in the shoulder once with a frosty ray.

"Just give up!" Pova screamed out as she let loose another icy blue ray. "The Tree is far more powerful than you can imagine. Why do you believe it is your job to stop it?"

Another blue ray hit Ander in the arm, adding to the biting cold numbness of the limb. He fired another bolt before he hunkered back down. "Believe it or not, we were hired by your daughter." He yelled out. Ander looked over, locked eyes with Carric, and motioned with his head towards the tree.

Carric nodded. The half-elf took aim at the slimy tendrils that could be seen over the wall, and fired. The arrow was stopped mid-flight by an invisible force before it could crest over the wall.

Ander rolled his eyes and thumped his head on the rock.

Jun also watched the failed attempt, but from his vantage, he'd been able to see something the other two couldn't. For a split second, when the arrow had made contact with the force, a spot in the wall had lit up. With the verta-kochen still active, he wasted no time barreling over and slamming his warhammer into a very dark jewel that was set into the wall.

On the other side of the wall, Iados finally took out the last shrub. He was glad that no one from his group could have seen how long it took him to take care of some spindly shrubs. He stopped and took a good look at the tree for the first time. The tree's trunk was thick, but was a sickly brown color. There were numerous sores up and down that oozed with a greenish-yellow pus. At the trunk's base, right in front, the ground was sort of caved in. The dirt was gone and a rough funnel had formed that slunk down into the tree's roots. The ground was stained a dark and dirty red.

An image of Sol knelt down at the tree's base and feeding it blood suddenly entered his mind, and that thought enraged him. Iados saw Sol as she led men and women of all races to the tree. Some were blindfolded, some were dragged in irons. Some fought against her and had to be held down by the soldiers as Sol bled them, while others who were already so haggard and weary willingly offered their limbs. Images of Sol merely carrying a pail of the dark liquid and pouring it in were interspersed as well. In these images, Sol never once looked at the tree as she did this act. All of her attention was focused on the victim. While their eyes were wide in fear and locked on the monstrous tree, Sol spoke soothing words to them. She knew exactly where to cut to bleed the person quickly, so that the moment of terror would be over the quickest. She held their hands as she healed their wounds. Even as the blood disappeared into the darkness of the funnel, Sol's eyes never followed where it went, only where it came from.

Iados's hand tightened on his sword as a demonic snarl gurgled up from the back of his throat. He rushed at the tree. He didn't hear Pova's panicked cry behind him. He didn't hear Elaine and Kerri yell for him to stop as they watched through the entryway.

His sword cut into the surprising soft bark of the tree.

The moment his sword connected, it was like a bolt of lightning traveled from the tree to him. His entire body froze as the jolt careened and bounced off his organs. He couldn't breathe as images flashed briefly in his mind.

The sight of his amputated tail being carried away. The first time his father looked at him with no recognition. His mother crying over one of his sister's favorite toys shortly after she'd disappeared. Captain Eldon as he nodded and signed over his crew.

Kerri and Elaine watched in horrified shock as Iados's body went rigid, and then thrown back into the wall with such force that the stones shuddered.

"Cover me!" Elaine screamed as she raced towards Iados. Ander threw another bolt and Kerri yelled out an insult towards Pova.

Pova watched as Elaine crouched down next to Iados.

"The Tree has a mission that must be accomplished." Pova told Elaine, as Iados's body flared with the golden aura that had surrounded Hoklem and Drokow.

Elaine pointed at the tree as she turned to face Pova. "Is the mission worth sacrificing your daughter? Do you really agree with what happened to Despove?"

At the mention of Des, Pova winced like she'd been slapped. "Des could not be helped. She turned against the Tree. She chose her own fate."

"And what about Sol?" Elaine reached down and pumped a healing spell into Iados. She allowed herself only the smallest of waves of relief when he twitched.

Pova narrowed her eyes. "What about her?"

On the other side of the wall, Jun stood ready to barrel around and hit Pova, but Kerri and Ander held him off. Behind them, the two animals still fought. Carric tried to help where he could and send an arrow into the tiger. At one point the tiger form had dissipated and the druid Aniksil had reappeared, but that was only for a moment before he'd transformed again. Bitey did not let up on their attack.

Elaine stood up and faced the rough-skinned woman. "It was Sol who brought us down here. It was Sol who asked us to destroy the tree, and to take her and Des away from here."

"No, no that's a lie!" Pova clambered to her feet. "Sol would never leave the temple!"

"She already has!" The cleric took a step forward, her eyes hardened as she tried to reason with the mage. "She ventured to the top of the stairs, and left the cavern. She spent a night playing in the snow under the light of the moon. She watched the sun as it crested over the horizon. No matter how this battle ends, Sol will never be content down here again."

"Ma," Sol walked into the enclosure. "She's telling the truth."

Iados laid a hand on the ground next to him. He muttered some words, and the small demonic flame sparked in his eyes. The ground around them began to tremble, with dust and small stones raining on their heads.

Pova's eyes went wide. Fear filled her face as she looked from the tree to Sol. She ran to Sol and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Sol, you must run! The Tree is angry, you have to-"

Pova didn't get to finish as Elaine whacked her unconscious with her mace.

Sol's image faded from atop her own as Kerri let go of her spell. She struggled under the sudden dead weight of the mage. Between her and Elaine they managed to lower Pova more or less gently to the ground.

Jun looked over at Ander. "Go on, light it up."

Ander grinned and pushed up his sleeves. He marched right up to the base of the tree. The same images of all the countless victims filled his head. The wizard smirked. "So that's how you got that idiot to attack you. Not too bad, but I wouldn't touch you even with the best gloves in Pryria." Ander held out his hands and sent a cone of fire up at the tree.

Immediately the flames caught onto the soft bark, further ignited by the pus and ooze. The flames spread to the tendrils, tendrils that curled up on themselves as they burned and withered.

Ander stepped back and sat against the inside of the wall next to Iados as they watched it burn.

On the other side of the wall, the tiger suddenly became a man again. Aniksil howled and rushed towards the burning tree, but Jun caught him around the midsection and held him. Even though his verta-kochen had ended, he was more than strong enough to keep the druid in place as the older man fought to rescue the tree.

The tree burned quickly, and it only took a handful of minutes for the trunk to become solid black, and for all the tendrils to disappear. Aniksil calmed down as the strength left him. As the fire slowed died out, Aniksil's bark skin began to peel away. As each strip of bark left his skin, it crumbled into dust. One look was all it took to confirm that the same thing happened with Pova and Hoklem as well.

"What are you waiting for?" The broken voice drifted out of Aniksil's mouth. Jun saw tears fall from the bowed head and onto the ground. "Go ahead and kill me, that's what I deserve. I failed my goddess, and condemned so many to death, not to mention the pain I inflicted upon my own family."

Carric walked over, grabbed Aniksil's bun, and pulled his face up till they looked each other in the eye. "Glendaia only sent me to destroy the tree. She didn't say anything about killing you, in fact, she wanted me to pass along an apology."

Aniksil sputtered and quickly got to his feet. "What for?"

"For not finding you sooner." Carric pointed to the ceiling and the walls. "This whole temple fell into solid rock, with no greenery to connect you to the outside world. She couldn't reach you, and wanted to apologize for abandoning you."

Aniksil smiled and shook his head. "If it was not for her, we would not have survived when the temple fell. It was another of her messengers, a young woman by the name of Skonia, who delivered to us scrolls of protection that held the temple together and allowed us to breathe and for life to flourish." The smile dropped from the druid's face as he took in what had allowed to happen to his grove.

While they talked, Elaine gave some healing to the unconscious bodies of Hoklem, Pova, and Drokrow. At the other end of the grove, the dark elf soldiers entered, led by Sol and Kinnek.

Sol was quickly embraced by both of her mothers, as they all murmured apologies through their tears. Aniksil excused himself from Carric and joined the trio.

Kinnek walked up to Carric and whistled. "Truthfully, I did not think you would come through."

Carric grinned and shrugged. "I tried to tell you, maybe next time you'll listen."

The dark elf clapped Carric on the shoulder. "We shall have to see. Now, I do believe I owe you a drink."

"At the very least." Carric let Kinnek led him and the others back up through the tunnels. Through one of the doors in the main hallway was a room set up with tables, chairs, and quite a few kegs. Kinnek explained that one of the arboretums was home to various fruit trees, and it hadn't taken them very long to figure out how to distill their own hooch. Iados and Jun joined in on the festivities in the room. There was a different kind of ambience in the room, and the dark elves that joined in were ready to celebrate their release. Carric was kept quite busy as translator.

It was Kerri who discovered the missing girl, Mira, from the first party who'd entered the caverns. Across the hall from the keg room, was her prison. Kerri quickly freed the girl, and spent quite a while calming her down and getting her story. When the rats had attacked their camp, she'd run away, and ended up in the gargoyle room. The door happened to be open, and she met Sol in the hallway. Sol asked the girl for the same kind of help, but Mira had instead asked for Sol's help. So, Sol had brought Mira back home and hid her in the cell.

Ander, Jun, and Lia spoke with Aniksil and Hoklem on what the next steps would be. Both of the parents were adamant that Sol should leave with the group, and go back to the surface.

"And the other dark elves?" Lia asked. Ander cast more translation spells so that he and Jun could join in the conversation without a translator.

Hoklem shook her head. "I'm not sure how many of them would be willing to follow her. The vows they took were a long time ago, and they have more than fulfilled them. Our kind, the Tefili, are not meant to live on the surface. If possible, I'd like for them to be able to return to the Dark Realms, and rejoin the Tefili in one of the ancient cities."

Jun crossed his arms. "Their vow is to you though, won't they follow you?"

Hoklem nodded. "That is true, but by this time tomorrow, I will not be here." She and Aniksil exchanged looks and both of them sighed. "We can already feel these bodies that were strengthened by the tree beginning to die. We make these plans not for ourselves, but for the others."

"It will be a simple enough matter for me to reopen the passage that Hoklem and her men used to reach us so many years ago." Aniksil pointed out towards the courtyard. "I do feel that we should try to convince one or two of them to follow Sol. I do not want her to be alone in a new world."

Lia suddenly smiled. "I don't think that'll be a problem." Lia pointed behind the two former-servants. Behind them, a tall and muscular half-orc female being supported by Sol and Pova made their way towards them. Aniksil and Hoklem rushed over and enveloped the girl in a hug. Elaine came up behind and around them as she made her way to her own group.

"How did you accomplish that?" Ander's mouth was wide-open as he watched the family reunion.

"All I did was heal her." Elaine leaned against the wall. Another of the beads on her necklace had gone dark.

"Didn't Sol mention that she'd tried to heal her before, but it didn't work?" Lia asked.

Elaine shrugged. "Sol also said that she was told Des was being put to sleep, but would wake up one day. Maybe that's all the tree did, put her to sleep, and when Ander here destroyed the tree, the magic on Des broke as well. All I did was wake her up."

Pova peeled herself away from the group and approached Ander. She knelt in front of the halfling and pulled a book out of a small bag over her shoulder. She held the book out to Ander. "I want you to have this."

Ander took the book, and rifled through a few pages. "Wait, is this what I think it is?"

Pova smiled. "It's my spellbook. There aren't many spells in it. It was still early in my training when the temple fell, but neither of my daughters inherited my magical talent, and it's a waste to just let a spellbook rot down here."

Ander looked up at the magic-user. "Thank you, I'll make sure this doesn't go to waste."

Pova nodded firmly. "Good." She stood back up and looked at Lia. "My father would never ask this of you, so I'm going to. Those notes down in his office are his life's work. Yes we were servants of the Tree, but he did some fascinating research down here on Dark Realms plants. I want you to take them with you to the surface. Surely you know somewhere where they'll be useful."

Lia grimaced as she thought of the Sanctum. "I might have an idea or two."

Jun took a deep drink from his tankard that he'd brought with him from the keg room.

"Did that come out of a red-ringed keg, or a black-ringed?" Pova asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jun looked skeptically down at his tankard. "Red one, I think. Why?"

The mage laughed. "I'd take that drink slowly, and don't go back for seconds. The red-ringed kegs are a special brew we mix up for the Wanit's. We trade it with them in exchange for different supplies."

"What makes it so special?" Ander asked.

"As part of the brewing process, we use sap from the tree, imbuing the drink with magical properties."

Jun's face paled. "What kind of magical properties?"

"A single cup of that hooch, will add more or less ten years to your current stage of life." Pova grinned. "From what they tell us, they sell it for quite a lot of money on the surface."

Ander's eyes widened in curiosity. "You said 'current stage of life', do it doesn't make you younger?"

Pova nodded. "If you are old when you drink it, then you will be old for longer. If you are young when you drink it, then you will be young for longer. Same goes if the drinker is an infant or a child. We made the mistake of giving it to the girls a few times through childhood, and it took forever for them to age. When you leave here, you are welcome to take a keg. We will have no need of it."

"I don't think we'll need an entire keg," Lia missed the disappointed look on Ander's face. "But I can certainly think of someone who could use a few extra years."

Pova smiled. "It is your decision." She turned her attention back to Ander. "Besides the office books, we do have a small library, would you like to peruse it?" Ander nodded enthusiastically.

For the next several hours, M.A. helped the inhabitants of the temple break down their home. Elaine was able to restock on some medicinal herbs, and was even able to gather together enough for a makeshift alchemist's kit.

Lia spent most of her time in the office with Aniksil, compiling as many notes as they could into journals. It was hard for Aniksil to condense his life's work into a few small journals, but there was only so much Lia could carry out.

Ander, Pova, and Kerri poured over the books in the library. Many of the books were old diaries of the temple inhabitants, some of them being the journals from the acolytes that had died. A few of the journals in particular caught Ander and Kerri's eyes, as they were journals from adventurers like themselves. From what was written, it was a fascinating look into the world when the gods walked amongst the people. The most valuable book however, was a spellbook. It'd been stuffed into a far corner of a lower bookcase. Pova kicked herself for missing it all these years.

Carric and Jun helped the dark elves prepare for their journey. All of them except for two had decided to leave back into the Dark Realms. Only Kinnek and Zhongave (Hoklem and Drokrow's cousin) had chosen to follow Des and Sol to the surface. Hoklem released all of them from their vows to her, though to those in attendance it seemed like some gravitated towards Drokrow afterwards.

Iados took a quick trip up to the surface with Mira. They didn't have any problem getting out of the caverns. He dropped the girl off with Flyta, and then took the spending money that Aniksil had and purchased a few necessities for the dark elves, such as rations, proper waterskins, some new clothes, and bedrolls. When he approached the cavern entrance, laden down with supplies and pulling a small sled with even more, that he encountered an issue.

"Where are you going with all of those?" A nasal voice asked out of the shadows.

Iados groaned at the sight of the Wanit siblings. "What do you want?"

"An answer. Your business in the caverns has already been completed, so why are you lugging that crap down there?" Kalia's voice was muffled by the scarf wrapped around the lower part of her face, but her eyes were sharp and fierce.

Iados shrugged as he clocked the three guards hiding in the shadows. "I thought it'd be fun to throw it in the water and watch it sink."

The brother and sister didn't move as they stared at the akudaem.

Iados sighed. "If you must know, it's for the dark elves. They've decided to leave the temple, and we thought we'd help them out on supplies."

Kalia snorted. "You mean to tell me that you actually made it down there, past my gargoyle?"

Iados reached up and scratched the back of his head. "More like around it. In case you're wondering, we destroyed the tree. Went up in flames." He mimicked a small explosion with his hands.

Loiwin hurried up to Iados and caught him around the collar. "What do you mean you destroyed the tree?"

"Is your hearing getting bad? I said we destroyed it." The former pirate said loudly towards one of the harried man's ears. He grinned. "I should specify that it was Ander destroyed it. That little guy loves his fire." He wasn't perturbed in the slightest by the fact that Loiwin had him by the collar. Wasn't the first time wrung his collar, and it wouldn't be the last time. "How much of that red-line hooch did you have? Been around so long that you've lost your hearing?"

"Put him down Loiwin," Kalia said exhaustedly as she pulled down her scarf. "I think this imbecile is telling the truth."

"That's not a very nice thing to say." Iados chided as Loiwin reluctantly let him go.

Loiwin turned to his sister. "What are we going to do? We've got too much invested in that hooch."

Kalia gave her brother a tired look. "No, you have too much invested. I told you years ago to diversify, but you refused. You put all off your eggs in this basket, and leveraged every favor you have to keep anyone from asking questions." She tsk'd. "You have no one but yourself to blame."

Loiwin went red in the face. "What are you scheming?"

Kalia laughed. "The same thing I've been scheming for years, you've just finally made yourself a worthless enough asset." Kalia locked eyes with a guard standing behind Loiwin. "Kill him Nainor, and you'll get a nice bonus."

That was all it took for the tall man to draw their sword and run Loiwin through. Loiwin gasped in shock and pain, before he collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Iados turned to run, but found his path blocked by the two other guards. Before he could put up a fight, they'd grabbed his arms.

"Pity you had to see that, but I do need a patsy and you'll do just fine." Kalia took out a knife from her belt. "For the record, Deine had requested for permission to do this after you stole those knick-knacks. But I had so much fun with Kerri that I let it slide." Kalia stabbed the knife deep into Iados's gut. "And, I had so much fun with Kerri in my coach, that I'll give you a chance to survive this." She let go of the knife and backed up as the guards let go of the akudaem's arm. Iados collapsed heavily on the ground, still conscious and the knife still in him.

Kalia started back up the tunnel, her men in tow. "If you don't want to die immediately, I wouldn't pull that knife out just yet." With those parting words, Kalia left.