“That’s a Sarenton Huntsman,” said Garth, eyeing the ninja. “What’s wrong with your estate’s node?”

“Nothing’s wrong with the node, but many of the family members left. Now is not the time, we must get the princess to safety.”

“Princess?” Steven asked, looking between the ninja, Garth, and the unconscious girl. He was really getting tired of hearing something new every time he came to Serenity Springs. All the action was supposed to happen on the dungeon floors. “Ok, whatever. Let’s just do something, Garth. It’s your call.” He looked pointedly to Garth, hoping he would decide something. Steven didn’t have the knowledge to make any sort of decision, but he didn’t want to be stuck here when more guards arrived.

“We go with the huntsman, for now. I want to know what’s happening,” said Garth.

The ninja immediately turned and began running away from the parade field and lesser guildhall, Steven and Garth both following without another word.

Steven had expected to run towards Increasing Street, as that was the only way he knew to get to any kind of civilization. Instead they headed back past the new guard post and transportation platform. When they ran close to a football field's distance from the platform, the world ahead began to get blurry. The landscape and horizon shimmered, as if it were a mirage.

The ninja pulled out a ball from somewhere inside his black silk outfit, and threw it towards the shimmering haze. The ball contacted an invisible wall and caused a noticeable ripple to spread across the sky that melted and transformed into a black archway. The ninja darted through the archway without hesitation. Steven waved Garth forward and followed close behind.

There was no transition. Steven stepped through the archway into a dark poorly lit hallway. The only light was streaming through the portal that they just came through. The ninja moved back past Steven to retrieve the ball from the floor. As soon as he picked it up the archway vanished, leaving all of them in complete darkness.

Steven had a torch, but was without a way to light it. Thankfully the ninja sparked their own torch to life, and a dull orange glow lit their immediate surroundings to reveal a low ceiling and ornate walls covered by murals of individual battles that meshed together to portray a much larger image he assumed spanned the entire hallway. Breaking the mural every five feet was a smooth pillar butted up against the walls, and on the ground between each pillar was a marker the size of a square foot. He moved to inspect the closest marker.

Here lies Tabitha.

Grandest mother of 12, and wife of two.

Honor lies with Glory in death.

There was nothing else written, and a confused Steven looked around to find the ninja. “We’re in a crypt?”

“The Noble Catacombs. But yes.” They replied. The ninja reached up to pull off their mask, revealing the face of a surprisingly young man with incredibly bright blue eyes and a pointed chin. “We’re safe here. Follow me.”

Once again, Steven was perplexed as to where the young man’s weapon went. Everyone seems to have some sort of spatial bag, but he can never see anyone move an object in or out of the space. Even the guards he had nearly fought managed to don their helmets and get their weapons without him noticing.

They followed the young Sarenton through a winding maze of corridors, each one identical to the last. He was glad that their guide knew where they were going, as he would surely be lost if left to his own devices. The only sound was the echoing footsteps of his and Garth’s shoes.

Steven had several times slowed down to get a closer look at the memorial markers, but couldn’t see any seam that would indicate there was a body buried there. Not a single marker contained a last name, and he noticed that several of the names were wives or husbands of multiples.

Twice he had almost been left behind, but was able to catch up by following the sound of Garth’s heels. He made a point to stick with the group after the second time playing catch up.

They continued to follow the young ninja man for another quarter hour, before being led into a large room filled with tables and benches. The benches were occupied by several people rummaging through papers and speaking with ninja clad warriors who ran in and out from hallways similar to the one he just left.

“Wait here,” said the young Sarenton as he gestured towards an empty table and bench. The young man jogged off down another hallway while Garth laid the unconscious woman down on the table, taking great care to make sure she remained as covered as possible. Steven sat down on the bench once Garth had finished. Garth remained standing, feet shoulder length apart and hands clasped at his front. At some point he had drawn his hood over his head, all that could be seen was a glint reflecting off his glasses.

They drew many quick glances from the others around the room, but either they were too busy to care or they were too afraid to openly stare. However, Steven did notice that it was noticeably quieter in the room.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, the young ninja returned accompanied by a beautiful rosy-haired middle aged woman wearing a black floor length dress with a dark emerald corset cinched over it. Steven stood.

“Garth Trager, I witnessed your executions,” the woman said with a flat voice, standing impossibly straight with her hands behind her back not even acknowledging Steven’s existence. Her voice was rich and femininely deep, but full of authority. “We had received word you had been retrieved from the First Church.”

Steven could feel his face heat up as she turned her head and looked right at him.

“Mr. Reckker I presume? I am Caireena Sarenton. I am to understand you are to thank for bringing Veramari back to us.”

“I helped, but how did you know?” Steven asked.

“The nun at the church sent a missive when...”

“No,” interrupted Steven, earning a harsh look from Caireena. “My last name. How did you know?”

“Our family prides ourselves on our ability to scout and assassinate,” she replied. “We have several high level Huntsman with a detailed enough identify skill.”

Caireena clapped her hands twice, and two huntsman appeared. They gingerly collected Veramari while Garth watched apprehensively. Once the two hunstman were gone, Caireena’s face softened a bit.

“It’s ok now Garth, you have completed your duty. She is back with family,” she said in a softer tone, losing the authority of whatever her position was.

“Yea, about that,” Steven started to say.

“Don’t worry about it,” Garth cut him off. His voice was harsh. “Just drop it.”

Steven looked at the glasses underneath the hood and slowly nodded. He got the feeling there was something more going on here than what he had been told. Especially between Garth and the Sarentons.

“Gentlemen,” Caireena said loudly, commanding their attention once again. “Welcome to the Collective. The remnants of the four noble families and the guild.”

She said it with finality like it would explain what was going on, but Steven still had no clue. He looked over at Garth, who showed no signs of understanding either, but he did lower his hood. His face was a bit pale, and otherwise blank.

Caireena looked between the two and sighed. “I expected a bit more inductive reasoning from you Garth,” she said, speaking normally again.

Steven couldn’t decide if this woman wanted to be in charge, was in charge, or just simply unable to act like she was in charge.

“I don’t mean to sound rude, but are you in charge? Like, do you run things here? Sorry, I’m just getting confused a bit. I don’t know what to think,” said Steven, unable to keep his thoughts to himself. He found himself fidgeting a bit, and forcibly stilled himself.

“She’s the new head of the Sarenton family. Her mother and fathers were likely killed or imprisoned when this Eternal Emperor usurped the four families. This Collective is likely a resistance, and she represents one of the four,” Garth explained, earning a glowing look of appreciation from Caireena.

“There’s the Garth I knew,” said Caireena fondly. “Come on, I’ll fill you in on the details while we wait for the first council to begin.” She turned and walked through a nearby doorway.

Steven elbowed Garth and leaned in to whisper, “You knew all that?”

“Yes,” Garth said, looking through the doorway that Caireena just walked through. “I know her too. You just saved her half-sister.” He made his way into the room with Caireena leaving Steven alone standing by the bench.

Steven didn’t know why he was involved in all this, but he did know that it was all Garth’s fault. If only he had managed to get the man to help him with his bonus challenge first, he wouldn’t be in a secret resistance lair waiting to attend a clandestine resistance meeting he had no reason to be attending.

He grunted and followed the other two into a large room with barren walls. A long table sat in the middle, surrounded by a hodgepodge of chairs. There was nobody else in the room besides Garth and Caireena, so he found them immediately and made his way over to sit in an empty chair next to Garth.

“Don’t even know what I’m doing. I haven’t even finished Floor 1.”