The walls quaked, spilling trails of sediment to the sandstone floor. That confirmed that the assailants were using siege equipment or spells. It wouldn’t be long until Underdune fell. It had served as a fine base of operations for Tohl’s schemes, but he would not linger to see a new banner raised over it.

Billis returned to the office. She carried the head of Bors, a useful agent of Tohl’s, intrumental to the mass poisoning at the Feast of Equals, but also likely to break under questioning. Bors had confessed as much before bolting from the room. Billis was sent to chase him down. Much of the prison staff worked for Tohl above Ghetsis, a fact that Tohl did not want becoming public knowledge. Ghetsis didn’t know this was where Tohl vanished to, instead believing that he occupied some mysterious hut in the wilderness. Billis dropped the head at Tohl’s feet and awaited further orders.

Tohl kicked the head. Blood seeping from the neck soaked the sole of his shoe. Tohl did not mind. The act relieved some aggression he had been saving since the Emperor’s Clash. That had not gone according to plan. The Minotaurs of Spiral City had only been seen as an obstacle, but now they acted as active saboteurs. The carefully planned narrative he had been weaving had a loose thread that threatened to unravel the whole thing. He felt a tingle on his neck. A worm crossing his flesh with needle sharp legs.

He swatted the space and found there was nothing. All in his mind.

He sighed and delivered another kick to Bors’ head. Ghetsis had relocated the bulk of the Order’s forces to Sráid, which welcomed him thanks to the efforts of Kelmin. Emperor Thezzus promised open warfare and Tohl preferred Sráid as the field for it. Not just because of its defenses, but because of the image it would create. Barbaric Minotaurs laying siege to a city of fair Elves protected by righteous paladins. The ballad wrote itself.

If they win.

That was a poisonous thought. When they win was surely more apt.

Tohl shook his head. This was all a distraction to the more pressing issue of escape. His office was concealed, but the secret exit he had installed was another floor down. He checked his pack to ensure that what he was taking was more vital than what he was leaving. He had to travel light if they were to reach Sráid in a timely manner. No guarantee that their horses would be waiting for them outside.

The bulk of his pack was taken by his money. Each coin was slotted into tube-shaped cases so that they would not jingle in transit. It was probably vain to take so much, but as far as they had to travel he would not downplay the necessity of a bribe. There were also wax seals. One of a kind and used for forging letters from various nobles and establishments. All had been useful in manipulating the Confederacy. The only one he had not used was the one bearing the royal crest of Fae’Riam, and that was because he had not settled on what to use it for.

The stamp had come from belongings of the missing elden noble that Solind had alerted him to. He had made little progress in locating the runaway royal, but there was talk of someone with purple eyes seen in the Ramuf and Spiral territories. Other items of the elden were to be left behind in a concealed crate. He would have agents on standby to collect the crate, and other compromising items, once the Spiral soldiers had left Underdune.

The only item that was still up for debate was the black wand. Captured from the diablan that halted the riots on the night of the Feast of Equals. It was a hefty piece of wood, and no doubt powerful if the first-hand accounts were accurate. Tohl was no mage and did not know the value of such a wand. Was it worth devoting precious pack space to it?

He did not receive a chance to answer. The prison shook again. The wand fell from Tohl’s hand. Behind the door there was a cry that the first floor had been breached. Tohl decided to leave the instrument where it lay. It was of no worth to him personally. He ordered Billis to take her own pack, provisions for their journey. It was a foolish thing to do in this moment, but Tohl took the time to brush her right cheek. So many useful people were dead. Solind and Zam firstmost. Corban wasn’t dead, but he had vanished. A thread to be followed up on. Tohl was owed that undead army.

In the main hall of the basement guards were setting up defenses. They acknowledged Tohl and Billis only briefly. Officially, neither had been in Underdune to begin with. He paid for their silence, and for men like Bors that thought such a deal could be reneged...well, they had all seen Billis pass with his head.

Tohl pushed a keystone above the doorway to his office. An adjacent weapons rack slid into place, hiding the entrance. That mechanism had been costly to implement. Most who worked in the prison didn’t know it existed to begin with. Tohl checked to make sure every guard was wisely averting their eyes.

On the stairs of the second basement Tohl paused. He heard a battle in those dim lit halls. Were the prisoners taking the chance to revolt? That would not do. If the prisoners were victorious they would flank the guards above. If Tohl was to escape he needed Underdune to last as long as possible.

He made a subtle gesture to Billis, taking her pack so that she could kill unhindered. Tohl waited outside the door; passing the time by scrapping the fresh blood off his shoe.

On the other side Billis was working like a meat grinder on every moving body. Perhaps he should’ve ordered Billis to spare the guards. Ah well, he was in a foul mood and this was a way to cope with it.