Seera Wyndham led the way along the tunnel. Mister Shanahan shadowed her, weapon pointing down at the ground. She didn't sense anything close by. She paused to take a breather. She looked over her shoulder. The three Wu Chi looked winded, but Everett seemed relaxed and ready to run for miles at the pace they were going.

“Let's take a few minutes before we start on the next section,” she said. “Keep an eye on our backs, Everett. I don't sense anything back there, but that shaft could let a monster get behind us.”

“Don't worry,” said Everett. “I'm ready to create an obstruction at the first sign of danger.”

Seera nodded and moved forward away from the group. Mister Shanahan moved with her, covering his side of the tunnel with his rifle.

“How do you know Wu Chi?,” Seera whispered. She sent a screen for danger out as she leaned against the wall on her side of the tunnel.

“I don't,” said Shanahan. He kept an eye on the tunnel ahead, but checked the group behind them constantly. Everett was on Grandview's team. That automatically kept him off the friend list until something came along to show different.

“Earlier?,” said Seera. She had been as surprised as the others when Shanahan had broke in on the three paper men's discussion.

“They sound Korean,” said Shanahan. “I know enough Korean to get into trouble.”

“Korean?,” said Seera. “That's a place on Earth, isn't it?”

“Yep,” said Shanahan.

“What were you doing in Korea?,” said Seera. She checked her watch. They still had time to talk before they had to get started again.

“Leave,” said Shanahan. He saw the look on her face, and shook his head. “The United States armed forces has a vested interest in South Korea. The military has personnel stationed there, and leave is granted for personnel being deployed to a station close by. So I was granted leave of duty to do what I wanted as long as I didn't break the local laws.”

“I understand now,” said Seera. The infantry that the hexes used generally lived where they were going to be used to fight. Moving around was not that common, and the people who could do it the easiest were the members of the factions, and people who didn't have a reason to stay in one spot. Everyone else tended to grow roots where they grew up, and worked.

Seera checked her watch. She felt ready to continue. She looked at the group behind them. They were pouring over the map of what they had covered so far. She frowned at it.

“What does that look like to you?,” she asked Shanahan.

“It looks like the partial floor plan to Grandview's tower,” said Shanahan.

“What do you think it means?,” she asked.

“Nothing, or too big a coincidence that the tower and this cave have the same floor plan as far as we can tell from the map they are making,” said Shanahan.

“There's no way this could have been dug out to echo the tower,” said Seera. She frowned at the map. “That would be asking too much.”

Shanahan said nothing. He didn't know enough about Seera's world to comment on the weirdness of it. He wouldn't be surprised that as one thing went up to the sky, a mirror image was pulled out of the ground.

They had people who could turn stone into energy guns, and paper into living three dimensional maps. Mirroring constructions didn't seem that far out of place.

“I think we should get moving,” said Seera. “We'll set up camp in a few hours. It probably won't be a good idea to have a fire when we do stop.”

Master Yuen put his banner away with a nod. One of the other Wu Chi helped him straighten. He seemed to be realizing that walking was going to take a greater toll than he had thought when they had entered. He didn't voice any objections to the caution they were taking.

Almost being eaten by one of the cavern dwellers seemed to have put things in perspective for him.

Seera started forward, using her talent to search for the safest path. The tunnel they were in seemed to be that until something changed. She hoped they didn't have to contend with anything like that before they reached a spot they could defend from anything that might come their way.

She was confident that Mister Shanahan and Everett could escape any problems thanks to their spirits. She also thought her partner would die before he left her. That gave her some comfort.

The second hour of their descent from their rest stop, Emil appeared. He smiled at the group.

“Hello,” Emil called. He held up a hand of fire to illuminate himself. “I'm heading back to the tower for the night, Seera. I'll be back in the morning.”

“Thank you for letting us know, Emil,” said Seera. She had stepped in the way so her guardian wouldn't shoot. “We'll see you then.”

“Also the Master Carver would like a word with you when you're done,” said Emil. “I told him he would have to wait, but he has always been tempermental.”

“We'll keep an eye out for him,” said Seera. “Have a good night, Emil.”

Emil vanished as suddenly as he had appeared.

“All right,” said Seera. “I think there's a spot we can use for our first camp ahead. We'll see what kind of shelter we can make for ourselves so we can eat and get some sleep.”

“I don't understand,” said Yuen. “He could just take me to the bottom, and move me along to fill in spots on the model. Why doesn't he do that instead of making us walk?”

“Why would he?,” asked Seera. She shrugged at the man's expression. “Emil doesn't do anything unless it helps him. This survey doesn't really help him as much as it will help you inspect the cavern and figure a way to create a defense from the monsters attacking your hex. He's letting you do the work for him, while remaining where he can claim credit for preventing something from going wrong.”

“And he can make sure you are rescued as long as we can buy time against anything we might run into down here,” said Everett.

Seera smiled slightly.

“Emil will do his best to keep you safe,” she said. “He's usually good for his word once he has given it.”

Yuen nodded. His two attendents bracketed him. The group set off again.

Seera found the spot she wanted after an hour of walking. She looked around for any traces of something coming back. She didn't see anything.

“This is where we'll bed down,” said Seera. “We'll set up a latrine down away from us so the local animals won't come right to our camp. I'll take the first watch, Everett will take the middle, and Mister Shanahan will take the last. We'll bed down until first bell, then we'll start out again. Don't forget to massage your legs so they don't cramp after the miles we've already walked.”

The group set up their camp, working out any hitches in their muscles, spreading blankets to sleep on, getting out cold food to eat. Shanahan went down and made sure there was a hole where they could do their business. He created a screen with two rocks he tore out of the ground. He returned to find the others already claiming their spots in the alcove that Seera had selected. He pulled a boulder over to create a low wall for protection before taking the ground in the corner where boulder and alcove wall met.

The Wu Chi had formed a triangle at the back of the space. Yuen had grabbed the spot nearest the back wall.

Everett had built a hammock above the group and lay in it. He sealed it off as he tried to get to sleep so he would be fresh for guard duty.

Seera had waited to see what Mister Shanahan would do. She picked a spot on the other side of him. The wall of the alcove protected her from direct attack and being seen by anything roaming the tunnels. There was a gap between the rock and the alcove wall.

“Can you place another rock here, Mister Shanahan?,” she asked. She pointed at the gap in the defensive hedge.

Shanahan stood and stepped out in the tunnel. He grabbed a wide spike in the ground and pulled it loose from the floor. He stepped inside the alcove and pulled the spike into place behind him. He rapped on it with a knuckle. He nodded when it didn't move.

“That should give us enough of an edge so we can fight our way clear,” said Seera. She settled in and ate a honey bun as she thought about the day so far. Things had gone smoother than she had thought they would.

All she had to do was keep the unit moving until they reached the end of the line. How hard could that be with what they had already done?

She finished the pastry and hoped none of the Wu Chi did anything stupid to wreck her chances of getting loose from Grandview.