The journey from Kar’anza to the base of the outer ring of the Helena mountains was quiet, contemplative, and uneventful.

Or, it would have been, had I been alone. Traveling with Tez as I was, while still uneventful, was anything but quiet and contemplative, the girl chatting up a storm.

“Did you know that in Eldentide, they apparently don’t have adventures? To be fair, from what I’ve heard, they don’t have much there. Used to be the home of an ancient civilization, but after the eruption of the Elder, the place was made all but inhospitable. I’d love to go there one day, be the first adventurer to set foot there in who knows how long.”

I let her words drone on like white noise in the background. The only other indication of the passage of time was the sun’s path through the sky.

“…. And not just that, they say a Heartstopper lives there! They apparently can take the form of their victims and mimic them, but if you’re strong enough, you can resist and even take the power for your own. It’s the only known way to gain access to blood magic, aside from being born with blood-based Kin magic.”

As I said, nothing more than white noise in the background that-

“… or in Thlahzae, they have forests that stretch as tall as mountains; apparently, it’s one big jungle.”

“Doesn’t it bother you-” I whirled around to face my compatriot, words coming more harshly than I meant. “-doesn’t it bother you? The massacre that happened within the village? The fact that their people have been taken for labor to do…. Well, whatever. That we are marching our way to potentially our deaths?”

Tez stopped, scratching at her chin as if it were a good question.

“It does.” She finally said as if it were obvious. “But it’s not the first time I’ve seen something terrible.”

“It’s not?”

“Sure, maybe it’s the first time I’ve seen an entire village suffering at the hands of other humans, but even we as low-ranking adventurers come across some grisly sights in our time out there-” she waved off vaguely in the distance. “-but we are adventurers, not heroes, not knights in shining armor. We adventure, or well, that’s what life is supposed to be like. If I were to lose sight of that wonder, I’d grow jaded, and I’m not old enough to want that.”

“What about the fact that we’re on our way to confront a magic knight?”

Tez shrugged as if it were natural. “Adventurers tackle danger all the time. I don’t intend on staying glorified messengers or guards my entire life. Eventually, I’m going to be an adventure that tackles real adventurers. This is the first time I’ve had something like that.”

“I’m not sure I can relate.” I looked up toward the sun, making its final trek for the day, another two hours until sunset. “I once thought I wanted to see everything this world had to offer, then….” The image of my mom being held up by her throat came back to me, and the frustration of being so powerless with it.

Powerless. A reoccurring theme I was beginning to realize.

“I guess I’m not sure what I want anymore. I was just sent out to find what it was what I wanted.”

“Hah, you sound so dramatic.” Tez laughed at me.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re younger than me, yet you’re talking about the world, what’s in front of you like an old man. I don’t know exactly what you’ve gone through, but the world isn’t just mishaps and misfortunes.”

“Even though that’s exactly why we’re on this commission?”

Tez rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a smartass. No one likes one of those.”

Our conversation slowed after that, turning to idle frivolities as the sun crept nearer and nearer the horizon.

Soon.

------------------------------------

“I see it.”

“Where?” I whispered before my companion pointed straight ahead.

“Look. I don’t know about you, but a camp doesn’t seem like a natural rock formation.”

“You’re right.” I nodded, noticing what Tez had seen. At first glance, from this distance, it looked like nothing more than an assortment of odd-shaped boulders, but when I narrowed my eyes, I could make it out for what it was, a collection of tan tents haphazardly strewn around the gaping maw of what looked to be an underground pass of sorts.

“I think I know what they needed slave labor for.”

I nodded silently. The large pass carving out underneath the rocky peak was clearly man-made. When I looked up, I could see why the scraping peaks were impossible to climb from this side.

“Wait-” I muttered, something catching my eye. “I think I see some movement.”

“Where?” Tez asked, taking her turn as the one who needed something pointed out.

“There.” I pointed forward toward the entrance of the underground pass. “You can see a few people milling about.”

“Damn.” Tez shook her head. “You’re right.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t seen us.”

“Probably because of that.” Tez pointed to the sun setting at our back. “I think we should split up, come at the camp from different angles. Less likely for us to be noticed, what with it getting darker out.”

“Right.” I nodded. “There don’t seem to be anyone else other than those that just went deeper in.”

Dropping into a low crouch, Tez and I shared a quick nod before we parted ways, circling around from the sides rather than marching straight into the enemy camp. It was the perfect split between dark enough that it was difficult to see far ahead while still having the glare of the descending sun to our backs. For several minutes, I crept in silence toward the camp, praying that no one would happen to look over for too long and notice our movement even with the odds in our favor.

Just a little further.

Closer to the camp, I could make out more of the details. I saw several ragged-looking tents, equipment for digging lying about, a shovel here, a pickaxe there. Nothing particularly world-shaking. Creeping around silently, I was beginning to feel more confident when I froze, a sound directly to my right.

“Eugh.”

My head slowly turned, but rather than a moaning monstrosity about to lunge at me and tear my throat out, there was a painfully thin man.

“Are you okay?” I rushed to him, kneeling at his side.

The man wore glorified rags, his arms worn down, and blisters covered his hands.

“Hey, hello?”

The man seemed lifeless, but after my continued verbal prodding, I saw a semblance of clarity return to his eyes, turning to face me from where he was lying propped up against a crate.

“W-who-?”

“I’m- we’re here to save you.”

It was apparent who the man was, or rather where he was from, undoubtedly one of the missing villagers from Kar’anza.

“What happened to you?” I questioned, praying the man would be lucid enough to respond.

“Digging. Made us….dig.” The man paused mid-sentence as if it were physically taxing to search for the words.

“Digging for what?”

“Scales….of…earth.”

“What does that me- hey. Hey, wake up!” I whispered energetically at the man as his eyes fluttered and closed. Completely still, I tried to gently shake him awake until I resorted to smacking the man lightly in the face, but nothing worked.

He was dead, something I confirmed after checking for a heartbeat, no matter how weak it may have been. It was a miracle he had even lived this long, likely left to his own like a dying animal no one could be bothered to dispose of. I felt a momentary surge of bile up my throat, but I forced it down. The revulsion I felt now was different compared to when I’d been forced to kill some of the raiders. Here was an innocent man who had suffered, dehumanized, and left to die on his own like some sort of garbage.

I felt a cold fury flowing through my veins, washing aside the previous revulsion.

Whoever did this had to pay. Whether I knew these people or not, for them to die like this, alone and delirious….

It was unjust, an affront to everything life was meant to be, something I’d learned even in my relatively short life.

I tore my gaze away from the man’s body, now empty of the spark that once made him a person.

Was he funny? Stern? Kind? A baker or a cobbler?

I brushed the thoughts aside, thoughts that would only torment me, letting the feelings of anger and unfairness linger in their place instead. I moved on, searching for anything of note, thinking as I did.

Scales of earth?

Now that I thought about it, an underground pass of the size couldn’t have been dug in such a short period of a few weeks. It was more likely that it had always been there but only recently been expanded by the continual efforts of the enslaved villagers.

Where are they anyway?

I’d investigated a few of the tents, but I’d seen no one in them.

So where?

Small as the camp was, I soon stood flat against the left lip of the passage carved beneath the heights of Sun-splitter peak. I could make out the sound of labor from where I was, pickaxes cracking rock, and the occasional grunt of effort or pain.

I guess I know where everyone is then.

I waited until a short bit later, I saw a figure creeping forward, pressing herself alongside the outer lip of the man-made tunnel on the opposite side of the gaping entrance.

Tez, and it was apparent she was furious.

Wonder if she saw something worse.

I waved to her, and she responded by giving me a single quick nod as she acknowledged me. Holding a hand toward me, she signaled me to wait. Craning her neck forward and around, she investigated the tunnel., something I hadn’t trusted myself to do without being noticed. Nodding once as if satisfied, she raised a hand up, five fingers held out before running one across her neck.

Five enemies.

Lowering two fingers, she pointed a thumb towards her.

Three to the right.

Two fingers held out now, she pointed once toward me, then jerked her head as if signaling something further away.

Two to the right, further in.

Finally, she switched to making an o shape with her thumb and index finger, her remaining fingers stuck straight out. It took me a moment to figure out what she meant by it before I copied the motion, nodding back to her.

Ready.

Holding her hand up once more, she began to lower her fingers, one at a time.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

I took a deep, calming breath, letting mana’s familiar, reassuring feeling wash over me.

Go!

We charged out and forward into the tunnel at the signal. I subconsciously took note of my surroundings, frail men, women, and even children laboring away with the same digging equipment that I’d seen outside, digging for… well, whatever the ‘scales of earth’ were. As Tez had relayed, two men and one woman sat around a table playing cards, their weapons casually leaning against their chairs.

They’re playing cards while these people are working themselves to death!

A cry of anger rang out from me, a cry which I hadn’t even consciously thought to do. Unfortunately for us, it drew their attention as they suddenly jumped from their chairs, grabbing their weapons as they noticed our charge.

Whoops.

A moment later, my sword was clashing against one of the hook-shaped swords popular within the desert, a contest of strength between me and one of the raiders. I saw a whip flash toward my head, but it was intercepted as Tez’s bladed staff sprung forward, whip wrapping around it like a constricting python.

I felt a jolt of pain as I was kicked back and away, a booted foot landing square in my stomach.

Pay attention to yourself first and foremost, Rook.

I drew on the calming rush of mana, my disorientation after being kicked gone in an instant as I did.

The raider with the hooked sword was rushing toward me once more, but either he underestimated my ability to recover from being kicked away or simply failed to realize the mistake of charging forward so brazenly with his sword held overhead. I pretended to cradle my gut, luring him in. At the last second, I shot forward, my sudden acceleration taking the man by surprise. A heartbeat later, my sword was stabbed in an upward angle through his gut and out his upper back. Yanking it out, the man stumbled before falling backward, flat on his back.

One down.

I looked toward Tez, who was currently playing a game of tug-o-war with the whip-wielding woman. I trusted in her, but the issue was the third raider who had charged toward her with a hatchet raised. Thinking quickly, I snagged a rock from the floor before yelling out at him.

“Hey, asshole!”

The man reflexively looked over, just in time for the stone I picked up to catch him between the eyes, thrown with my mana accelerated strength. The man dropped to the ground like a fallen tree, as dead as one as well

I only meant to distract him, but that works as well.

Turning my attention from the fallen raider, I was just in time to see as Tez suddenly twisted her body, generating momentum through her hips as she flipped through the air, yanking the whip free from the woman and pulling her off balance.

I swear she does it just because she can.

Off-balance, the last thing the woman saw was Tez dash forward as acrobatic as a trained dancer before thrusting forward with her bladed staff, gutting the woman like a fish.

I rubbed my stomach in sympathy, recoiling at the echoed pain of being kicked in the gut earlier.

I wanted to catch my breath, sudden bursts of violence far more taxing than one would imagine, but there was no time for catching my breath. The last two raiders ran toward us further down the tunnel, though they were dressed differently from all the prior raiders I’d seen.

As they closed in, I felt it, a familiar feeling, the mana around us active.

“Watch out!”

I didn’t have time to explain the warning further as a ball of fire shot forward, exploding out between where we had just been standing as we threw ourselves out of the way.

“Magic-user!” Tez shouted as if it weren’t already obvious.

It wasn’t just the fireball; moments later, five thin black needles the length of my forearm were whistling through the air toward us like angry metal hornets.

I ducked out of the way of three of the five large metal needles, the other two aimed toward Tez, who struck them out of the air with her bladed staff.

We exchanged a look, the meaning unmistakable, as we split once more. Tez toward the needle-wielding woman, myself toward the magic-user.

Is this who they were talking about?

I wanted to believe that it was the one behind the scenes, with no mention of any other magic users, but something about it felt off.

No. More like there was no need to show it off.

Another fireball flew toward me; the only indication of the magic being cast was the silently moving lips of the man.

I ducked and spun out of the way of the fireballs, my reflexes supernaturally charged. As more fireballs came flying toward me, I was more and more sure that this magic caster wasn’t the culprit in question. His usage of the singular elemental magic was routine at best, and even with magic, I had my doubts this would be enough to best an Iron rank adventurer.

No, he isn’t the one.

Dipping low, I grabbed a handful of small pointy rocks, waiting for the moment when the enemy mage threw another fireball toward me. Never sensing what was coming, it was only a moment later when he did, and seeing my chance, I flung the debris forward before rolling to the side.

Vision obscured by his own fireball, the man was treated to a painful surprise as a cloud of sharp stone, now superheated after passing through the fireball, slammed into his face, shredding the skin of his face and cauterizing it at the same time. His left eye was particularly unlucky as a rather large stone flake tore into it, eliciting a painful scream.

That’s what you get. I mentally scolded the man, in part to remind myself to not feel bad for him or the pain he was enduring. Concentration shattered and partially blinded, the man could not defend himself as I reached him, my sword taking his arms off from the elbows down.

“Where is your boss?” I shouted at the man, pointing my sword at his head, but his one good eye rolled back before he went still.

Oh.

My attempts at interrogating the man failed, the shock of his injuries killing the man on the spot. I looked at Tez, who was finishing on her end, the gray-haired woman’s head rolling away from her body after Tez’s bladed staff had taken it from her neck.

I winced once more until I noticed Tez cradling the left side of her mid-section, blood seeping between her fingers.

“Tez!” I shouted, rushing over to her.

“S’okay.” She hoarsely whispered. “Hurts worse than it actually is.”

“Let me see.” I ordered as Tez reluctantly lifted her billowy overshirt to show me.

A hole had been punched through, but thankfully it looked as if she were right. It hadn’t hit anything vital as far off to the side as it was, at least from what I could tell with my hazy knowledge of the human body.

“What happened?”

“She was flinging those needles like crazy. Guess I didn’t manage to avoid them all.”

There was no way to properly clean her wound up, so I offered her a reluctant smile as I gave her the one option I could do.

“I can cauterize it.”

Tez winced, but she nodded. “Do it.”

Closing my eyes, I repeated the same process as when I had cauterized Veronika’s stab wound, drawing thermal mana to my blade before sending a tiny flickering flame to ignite its heat. Offering Tez one last apologetic smile, I pressed the flat of the blade against the wound.

I had to give it to Tez; had it been me, I would have cried out in pain, but the girl grit her teeth, suffering through it until it was done.

“Sorry.” I muttered as I pulled my already cooling blade away.

“S’okay.” Tez repeated, her pale face already regaining some color. “Hurts, but I’m okay.”

I nodded, taking her word, looking around us.

“Uhh, Tez?”

The villagers who had been laboring away had stopped, watching us, their eyes bleak, scared to hope.

“Right.” She whispered before raising her arms. “We’ve come here to save you. Kar’anza has been freed, and the raiders have been driven away! It’s going to be alright.”

Rather than cheer in joy, they looked down as if afraid to look at us.

“Didn’t expect that reaction.” I looked at the villagers, who were slowly going back to work, albeit more slowly now that they weren’t actively monitored. “What’s with them?”

“We’re not free. Not yet.”

Tez and I turned to look behind us, a single older man leaning on a shovel he had stabbed into the ground.

“What do you mean?”

“It was never the raiders that were keeping us here.” The man gestured at the corpses on the ground. “It was the three bosses, but even with two of them dead-” He pointed toward the armless man and the headless woman, “-he is the one we’re terrified of, which shackles us here even without shackles.”

“He?”

The man pointed a finger up the ceiling. “He is at the peak. He comes down here to check in on everything once a day. We are expected to mine the scales of earth. If we don’t, not just us but our families will be slaughtered. We can’t just leave.”

There it is again. ‘Scales of earth.’

“What are these scales?” I questioned, Tez shooting me a questioning look.

“I’ll show you.” The man sighed. “Not that it matters.”

We followed him through the passage, ignoring all the winding side tunnels as he took us to the very back, where it opened back up to the surface.

Outside, it occurred to me as I looked around that we were now inside the natural barrier of peaks surrounding the Helena mountains, still off in the distance. To my right was a winding path that made its way up the ridge, and to my left were several crates filled with….

Well, scales.

“Scales of earth.” The man held one of the scales up for us to look at.

It looked exactly like an oversized scale, except made entirely of stone.

“Fresh mined ones are sent up, and later they are sent back. These are the ones sent back from the last batch.”

Tez grabbed one from the crate, whiter than the rest, but not by much, holding it up to inspect it herself.

“What are they?” She questioned after a moment.

“Dunno.” The man shrugged. “But we don’t know anything. Those three show up one day, ask around our village, raising concerns as people notice the strange markings on their hands, but we get adventures and the like through Kar’anza from time to time, so we think nothing of it or try not to at least. Next thing we know, we are being invaded by some raiders led by those same three. The main one, he makes it real clear what will happen if we fight back. Made a demonstration of burning kids, fucking children, alive right before us. We figure it’s better for us adults to suffer than watch our children die before our very eyes. So, here we are. All we could put together is he wants something to do with the Emriess family. Poor mother didn’t last, though. The girl, she is still up there with him, though. She always was a hardy little thing.”

Before looking back at the man who only sighed, Tez and I shared a look.

“I can read the atmosphere. If you want, try; not like we can stop you. Best case scenario, you somehow really do come out alive, and we are finally free. Otherwise-” The man hefted his shovel, turning his back to us. “We’ve been broken already. There isn’t much more to say, is there? Just follow that path. It was the first thing he had us clear out when we were brought here. Will take you right up to the top.”

“Thank you.” I called out, but the man never responded, waving once as he made his way back inside the passage, returning to his labors.

He was right about one thing, They had been thoroughly broken, spirits crushed.

Tez watched as the man walked away before turning towards me, faking a half-smile.

“Well, what are we waiting for?”

-----------------------------------------------------

The trek up the path was tame; the villagers who had been working on making it had done an excellent job of making it mostly safe.

It was unfortunate that a single glance off the side would reveal the cost of the laborious effort, broken bodies lying far below after suffering a sudden drop from the jagged ridge.

Even as safe as the path seemed, I kept my eyes glued to the ground. Whether from a loose pebble or tripping over my own two feet, a single trip would send me tumbling down below to join in on the fate of the villagers who had fallen before me.

That’d be something, come all this way, just to fall to my death.

Keeping my feet firmly underneath me, I made the climb with Tez a step behind me, the path too narrow to comfortably walk side by side. For half an hour, we climbed up the winding course until, at last, the trail began to level out, leading to the crest of the peak. It had been flattened out, only a few boulders and rocks left over from the demolition job required to flatten the ridge. The view was beautiful, a visa that one could see for leagues in any direction; I could barely make out what looked to be Kar’anza from here if I squinted hard enough.

Except, that wasn’t the focus atop the flat-topped peak. Standing opposite us was a man, arms crossed over his chest like a mummy, murmuring under his breath, standing in front of what looked like a stone altar.

And directly next to the altar was a girl, no older than twelve. She had undergone harsh treatment, beaten, and bruised, her eyes glazed over to the point where they didn’t react even as we stepped atop the butte, quietly taking position next to each other.

I raised my sword, but before I could speak, the man finally turned around as if he had been aware we had been here the entire time.

“It appears I have visitors.”