The light dissipated and Felicia slowly opened her eyes. Her feet were on soil instead of stone, the grass beneath her boots compressing slowly. She looked around, checking if everyone was with her. She looked over to Maria as she put a hand to her temple, shaking her head. Ray let go of Felicia’s hand, nodding at her and then scanning the group.

“Genstem’s close, let’s not waste time.”

Felicia took in the scenery around her, it was so different from the city. No matter how many times she went out on assignments, she never could get used to the changes. Stepping back, she bumped into something. She quickly turned around to see Aldrich looking down at her, the metal grates in his helmet obscuring his face.

“Oh, um, sorry.”

He didn’t say anything and stood still, his hands resting on his greatsword. Felicia shifted nervously, shrinking down where she stood. He finally looked up and started moving after Ray. Floyd chuckled and tapped Felicia on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, he just doesn’t talk much.”

She nodded and quickly jogged back up to Ray’s side. They walked along the dirt path in the middle of expansive grasslands. There was a cliff a few meters away, opening up to a ravine that flowed a long ways down. The town was visible close by, it’s tall buildings peeking overtop the walls, causing Felicia to pause for a moment; it was odd to see walls that weren’t white or this small. The group neared the gate, which was hurriedly opened by guardsmen. She took a look at their garments and noticed their mismatched armour and clothing.

The large wooden gate creaked open and the men lowered their heads as they drew close. They passed underneath the giant stone archway, the dirt path turning into cobblestone. Felicia’s breath caught in her mouth as the sounds of the crowds reached her ears; there were so many people here, and she could barely see the street underneath their feet. On all sides of her stalls with wares being sold by merchants lined the buildings, with men and women pushing their way through the buyers and others who were hauling goods through the roads.

She moved closer to Ray, keeping her footsteps in line with his. Was this how the lower levels of the city were? There was so much going on, she couldn’t keep track of half the things happening. The crowds in front of them parted, their murmurs filling Felicia’s ears. They stood out, their armour glinting underneath the sun. A parent pulled their child from the street as they marveled at the soldiers in front of them. It suddenly struck her, these people never had seen soldiers before. Felicia looked down at the child, their eyes wide with amazement. She glanced around the crowd, looking at all the gazes upon them.

They kept moving down the street and to a large towering building which looked like it could be a small castle, it’s giant towers casting long shadows. Ray knocked on the giant doors, to which a metal grate slid open. A pair of eyes looked out and quickly disappeared, the door opening a second later. It creaked open, the hinges it hung upon rattling in the wooden frame. The doorman eyed their weapons and welcomed them in with a bow. Ray moved past quickly and into the main hall. The inside was smaller than Felicia expected; it had a small chandelier up top and large wooden beams running up the stone brick walls to support the roof.

A man walked into the middle of the hallway, bowing and gesturing towards a set of doors at the end. Felicia followed Ray as he pushed open the door and walked inside. She jumped as a figure walked beside her, their long blue cloak flowing behind them. It took her a second to realize it was Maria. She had her hood over her head and was wearing a metal mask which covered the bottom half of her face. She looked so different in her armour, even her body posture was different.

A small man stood up from a chair at the back of the room and walked towards the group. He brushed his stringy hair out of his face revealing a scar on his cheek as the door was shut behind the group. Ray spoke up, holding his glaive under his arm.

“I assume you’re the informant?”

“Er, yes, my lord.”

He quickly continued, clasping his hands together silently.

“The two men I was told to follow came to town recently, and haven’t been seen on the surface.”

“We were told you had a location.”

“Ah, yes, they have been reported to be in the underground, and I’ve heard that they’ve set up in an abandoned church by the south walls.”

Ray nodded.

“Can you direct us to where that is?”

“You just need to follow the main street to the end of the wall, you’ll be able to spot it from there.”

“Is there anything else you can tell us?”

“Well, the two of them have been trying to keep things quiet and have been asking questions around.”

“What type of questions?”

“Nobody knows, everyone they’ve asked is dead.”

Ray paused for a moment, taking a look back at the group.

“Thank you for the help, we’ll be leaving now.”

The man quickly fell into a bow, averting his eyes as fast as possible.

“Yes, good luck my lords.”

Ray turned back around and pushed the door open, the rest of the group following in tow. Felicia felt a hand tap her shoulder, giving her a push towards Ray. She glanced back, seeing it was Kashire.

“Don’t fall behind.”

She nodded and quickly jogged back to Ray’s side. She hadn’t even noticed Kashire until then, he always seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Ray was now moving faster than before, his strides even and measured. What would happen when they got there? Felicia’s mind raced, was everyone prepared to fight now? Just like that?

The crowds parted for them once again as they walked down the main road. The sun was still high above, lighting the streets. They drew closer to the edge of the town and the crowds lessened and the buildings grew smaller. The houses out here were so tiny, so decrepit; the stones were falling apart, and the wooden roofs were bent inwards. It was so different from the houses in the middle of town, much less the lower levels of the city.

Ray stopped near the wall, looking around and then pointing in the distance.

“Over there.”

Felicia looked where he was motioning, and immediately got what their informant meant. The church stood at least three times taller than the rest of the houses, it’s spire crumbling and it’s stones weathered. As they approached, Felicia noticed its windows were smashed, remnants of the stained glass still stuck in the frame. She shook her head in bewilderment, wasn’t this place supposed to be taken care of?

Felicia stepped through the doorway, moving behind Ray as he entered. The inside was a bit more spacious, with the pews being half destroyed. The floor barely held itself together, with part of it collapsed downwards. Felicia peeked over the side, seeing only a black abyss. She gulped, hoping that wasn’t as big of a fall as it looked to be.

Ray walked to the end of the room, taking a look at the altar. Felicia walked close behind him as the others fanned out.

“Is there anything there?”

He shook his head, glancing around him.

“No, but there must be something around here. Let's keep looking.”

She nodded and gazed up at the degraded mural above her. The paint was almost completely gone, with only bits of the original work visible. Maria crouched down, examining the dust atop the stones.

“... Raynauld, we need to move.”

He turned around quickly, carefully placing his hand on his glaive.

“What is it?”

Maria unsheathed her sword and readied herself, facing the exit.

“Someone was here recently, and they were moving flametick powder.”

Ray cursed and called out to the rest of the group.

“Everyone, be on guard, check your corners.”

“Too late for that.”

A voice echoed through the church, low and grating. Felicia turned to see a knight in full plate armour. It wasn’t Aldrich this time, they wore blackened steel over their whole body, with a armet helmet that had a tattered dark blue plume coming out the top. He had a poleaxe over his shoulder, the blade of it glinting in the sunlight which he blocked out.

Aldrich stepped forwards, readying his greatsword while Kashire drew his bow, releasing an arrow. The man effortlessly dodged to the side, letting the arrow fly by. Felicia’s eyes widened, something that large shouldn’t be able to move that fast. A low growl emitted from the man as he glanced up, two dark orange lights piercing from the visor of his helm. Maria took a step forward.

“Haureulman… what did you do to yourself?”

“Been a while Maria.”

She took another step forward but was stopped by Aldrich’s hand. Haureulman stood still, his voice calm. Felicia shivered as he spoke.

“Look at you all, hunters for the city. Assassins saving the world, aren’t you?”

Ray moved upwards, his spear ready.

“You will pay for your crimes, right here, right now.”

“How come you haven’t paid for yours?”

Ray paused, his eyes narrowing.

“What?”

Maria moved in front of Felicia, whispering to her.

“Stay back.”

Felicia nodded as Haureulman spun his poleaxe around, slowly scraping his armoured gauntlet along the metal.

“Don’t play dumb, well, maybe you just are. I know that the rest of you know what I’m talking about.”

He pointed the tip of his weapon at Maria, the light beneath his helm ablaze. Ray shook his head and kept his stance.

“Save your ramblings, you’re not leaving here alive.”

“Of course, what’s another body to the pile?”

Ray lowered his voice into a growl and stepped forwards.

“That’s enough.”

“How many have you killed in the name of the city? Do you even keep count?”

“I said that’s enough.”

Ray’s hand moved downwards and his glaive’s blade burst into flames, illuminating the darkness. Haureulman planted the end of his poleaxe into the ground.

“Oh, I agree, but I just wanted you to know about the people who you’re about to get killed.”

Ray paused, shifting his grip on his spear as Haureulman continued.

“They’re all below us.”

A hiss erupted from underfoot as Ray let out a curse. The sound of an explosion hit Felicia’s ears as the ground shook underneath her. She felt her footing slip as she fell backwards, and she kept falling past where she thought she would’ve stopped. The ground passed her, and her eyes widened as she looked around, still falling. The ground had collapsed, and she was going with it. Above her, the ceiling was also falling, the giant bricks coming down towards her. She felt something wrap around her and push her to the side.

She hit the floor hard, feeling the breath rush out her chest. A voice grunted below her as she groaned and held her side. Bricks fell close by, almost falling on top of her. She took a look beside her, seeing Maria slowly getting up, stumbling while holding onto her leg and reaching a hand outwards.

“Are you unharmed?”

“Ah, um, yeah, I think.”

Felicia stammered and got up. She looked at Maria as she gasped in pain and held onto her thigh.

“Are you-”

“I’ll be alright.”

“Please, let me help.”

Maria glanced at Felicia and sat back down.

“Alright.”

Felicia placed her hands on Maria’s leg and concentrated. Ether burst from her arms, sending a shock of pain up them. She grit her teeth and let the ether flow freely. Maria placed her hand on Felicia’s shoulder.

“Stop, that’s more than enough.”

Felicia gasped as she released her hands, shaking them as they stung. Maria stood up, shaking her leg and scanning their surroundings.

“That was a long fall, I can’t see the others.”

“They’re still up there?”

“Yes, but we need to find our own way out.”

Felicia looked upwards, seeing bits of light from the ceiling above. It really was a long fall, at least 6 meters. Well, it could’ve been worse, but now they were stuck. She listened to the sounds of clashing metal from above and prayed it was going well. A series of faint clicks sounded behind her, and then a scream. She whipped around, trying to locate the source. She scanned the darkness, barely making out a cross section in the hallway they were now in.

“Did you hear that?”

She turned to Maria, who had her hands on her sword.

“Yes, but-”

The scream echoed again, and Felicia discerned the direction. She broke into a sprint, attempting to get to the person in time. Maria called after her but Felicia couldn’t hear what she was saying. She took a right turn and kept moving in the direction of the now more audible screams. Her heart beat in her chest, she could help whoever this was, she was trained to help others, right? She saw glimpses of faint light from around the corner and quickly bolted around it.

The room in front of her was huge, at least it was from what she could tell. The majority of the space was covered in shadows, completely obscured from sight. The screams were coming from further in, but still extremely close by. As she listened, she realized there was more than one, a lot more than one, each one slowly falling silent.

As she broke into her run again, she tripped over something. Barely catching herself, her boots splashed into a liquid. She looked down, realizing that it was a deep red puddle. A cry pierced her ears, causing her to whip around, her body tense. A figure stumbled out of the darkness, their feet moving like a drunk’s. They came closer into the light, and she realized they were covered head to toe in blood.

“Help… Please…”

Felicia stared in shock as the man reached out with one arm, the other missing. He was bleeding profusely from his abdomen, and bone from his rib cage was visible. A terrible series of high pitched clicks echoed through the room, and a hand grabbed onto Felicia’s shoulder from behind. Her body hit the floor as she was shoved down, the person's hand still gripping onto her.

“I need you to listen to me Felicia.”

She looked over to see Maria whispering in her ear. The man let out a bloodcurdling scream as an unearthly roar screeched through the air. Maria continued.

“I’m going to need you to stay still. That thing will still sense you, and it will come for you anyways, but if you move, you die. Got it?”

Felicia didn’t even have the chance to respond as Maria pushed her downwards. What did she mean? What was out there? Oh god, what was happening to that man? The screaming stopped as a wet squelching hit her ears. Her breath caught in her throat, the air tasting stale and smelling of fresh blood. She got a glimpse of something moving a few meters from her; multiple long black legs slowly touched the ground, moving rigidly like bone. Something fell beside her with a heavy thud. Maria’s hand gripped onto Felicia’s shoulder tighter, reminding her to stay still.

A click sounded out followed by another and then another, becoming faster with each one and growing into a horrifying chorus that echoed all around the room. She wanted to run, to get away from whatever that thing was. Felicia suppressed a whimper of fear as the legs drew closer. She closed her eyes as the clicks sounded again. A low gurgling snarl came from above her as she shivered uncontrollably.

She felt the hand on her shoulder disappear and then a high pitched screeching. Her eyes snapped open as she scampered backwards. Maria grunted as she shoved her sword into the beast’s underbelly. Felicia rapidly hyperventilated, taking in the monstrosity before her. It had giant bug-like legs with a long smooth body that had an exoskeleton on top of it. It’s mouth was filled with needle like teeth as it wailed a gurgling scream. Scythe like appendages on its front flailed uncontrollably, their blackened blades slick with viscera. Maria pushed even further into it, completely flipping the whole thing over.

“Felicia, your sword, through the top of its mouth.”

It took her a second to process Maria was talking to her before she hurried over, unsheathing her sword. Spit from the creature flew into her face as she winced at the sight of the open jaws. She closed her eyes and thrust downwards, feeling her sword break bone. The screeching died out as Felicia dropped to her knees, her hands still on the handle of her sword. Maria yanked her blade out of the beast’s stomach, wiping the thick black blood off of it.

Felicia tried to pull her blade out, but failed. Maria stepped on the throat of the monster and pulled it out for her. Felicia looked from the beast to Maria, her voice shaking.

“What was that thing?”

“A clicker, extremely dangerous, they usually only live in deep caves.”

“What was it doing here?”

Maria paused, grimacing.

“These people imprisoned it here.”

“But why?”

“For sport, to put in arenas.”

Felicia shook her head in disbelief. There was no way people could keep something like this alive for something as crude as sport. She slowly got off her knees, moving further into the room. Maria walked after her, stepping over the corpse of both the beast and the man that once was in one piece.

“Where are you going?”

Felicia shook her head, her breath still shaking.

“We have to find the rest of the people down here, they’re not safe.”

“Felicia… That’s-”

She walked through the door and into the next room, taking a minute to process what was in front of her. The floor was matted red, blood seeping into the cracks of the stones underfoot. Bits of what used to be bodies laid strewn across the whole room, obliterated past the point of recognition. Torn off limbs were scattered around, whole torsos laid ripped open, and pieces of bone littered the red viscera. A crushed head stared back at Felicia, one of its eyes dangling from the remains of its caved in skull. She couldn’t even count the bodies, there were too many parts.

Felicia felt weak in her knees and fell down onto all fours. She felt Maria’s hands help pull her hair out of her face and hold it back gently. She lurched over and vomited onto the ground, her eyes wide yet still filled with tears. Maria rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Just let it out.”

Felicia vomited again, the bile mixing amongst the blood on the floor. She let out a cry of anguish as she closed her eyes again. Maria placed a hand on her back, giving her some solace.

“It’s alright.”

Maria put her arm under Felicia’s and helped her to her feet, allowing her to lean her weight onto her. She slowly walked with Felicia out of the room, who let herself hold onto Maria’s arm, keeping it close to her.

I didn’t want this.

They moved past the dead monster. She struggled to take each shaking breath as they walked.

Oh god, why?

She let out a sob and collapsed downwards. Maria remained silent and kept her arms on Felicia as she cried.

“I’m sorry, I- I…”

“You don’t need an excuse, I understand.”

Felicia weakly nodded and stood back up, her hand shivering and boots stained red. She wanted to get out of here, as quickly as possible. Was that wrong of her? To turn her back on… that? A muffled voice came from down the dark hall.

“Yes, they’re here, now stop asking.”

Felicia looked upwards, recognizing who it was. Ray and Kashire rounded the corner, their weapons ready. Felicia took in a sharp and shaky breath as they quickly drew closer. Ray rushed up to them both.

“You two, are you injured? What happened?”

Maria released one arm from Felicia, keeping the other one on her shoulder.

“There was a clicker, a lot of casualties.”

Ray looked down at Felicia, who fought to control her breathing.

“Felicia, are you-”

He was interrupted by Maria gently pushing Felicia into Ray, allowing her to put her forehead to his shoulder.

“Ray… I…”

She couldn’t finish what she was saying as she choked on her breaths. Fighting back the tears, she forced herself to breathe evenly. They stood there for a moment before Felicia stepped back, bowing her head.

“I’m sorry.”

Ray took a moment to respond, his voice soft.

“It’s alright, you’re not hurt?”

Felicia nodded slowly and clutched her arm.

“I’m okay.”

Maria walked over to Kashire, talking in a low voice.

“What happened up there?”

Kashire shook his head.

“A lot, the whole town’s in chaos, Aldrich and Floyd are holding the entrance to the church, Haureulman is still a problem.”

Maria grimly nodded and placed her hand on the sheath of her sword.

“We better get moving.”

Felicia looked up at her and then to Ray, who motioned for her to follow him. She fell in step behind him, attempting to keep her thoughts straight. Ray’s hair was messier than before but still in the braid he always had. Felicia kept her focus on him, forcing herself to not let her mind wander back to what happened less than a minute ago. It was good he didn’t know about that, she didn’t want him worrying about her, she could deal with this herself. She needed to stay strong if she wanted to help anyone.