After removing my sword from Yaavtey, I fetched my spear from the ground and spared it a short glance. The “impact” it had made with Yaavtey's force magic didn't damage it, but there were a few scratches and chips along one side of the blade from its impact with rocks on the ground. Once I holstered it in between the empty backpack and my back into its holding straps, I peered at the burning building again, feeling my heart rate rise. This body's responses make no sense, I grumbled, I have a gas mask, and it's only fire. Even if there's no oxygen, I can hold my breath for at least a few minutes to check. My thoughts did nothing to dispel the nervousness, another glance at Yaavtey's lifeless body bolstered my confidence.

One of the skinny humans who had been watching wandered towards me, but then flinched back when I turned towards the sound of his footsteps. The rest of the humans who were watching also recoiled, and some who were poking their heads out of windows hid inside their homes. I need to get this done fast, I thought, there are more of them now than the last time I checked. The last thing I needed was the guard showing up to try to arrest me, especially on the off chance I managed to find Koyl.

Do I need to bring something to Steelheart as proof that I killed Yaavtey? I suddenly thought, Normally my eyes would have been recording the incident, but I might need physical proof. If I were dealing with a technological society, an ear or even the severed hand on the ground would easily suffice, but I had no idea how the Uwrish confirmed kill credit for assassinations. The head was the most likely candidate, but also the most encumbering. Anything I can take from him would likely be melted or incinerated beyond recognition by the fire anyway, I realized, I'll need to grab whatever I take on the way out. Depending on how this goes, I might even be able to just ask Koyl what would be appropriate.

Steeling myself and taking a breath, I walked through the open door and into the flames. The heat went from uncomfortably warm to scorching, and my whole body began to sweat profusely. Whether or not flames were touching me directly I couldn't tell, because my goggles fogged up to the point of near opacity. Using just a twinge of magic I pushed the condensation away from the center of each lens so that I could at least make out shapes. A quick check of my heads-up display showed that I had around a quarter of my magic energy storage left, and my hydration was draining fast.

In front of me were bodies, strewn about the flaming remains of what was once the guild hall's main floor as though they had been tossed around by some great force. What little I could see of the faces belonging to them showed that most had died screaming. Slowly and carefully I walked across the room, stepping high to make sure I didn't trip on an arm or leg in my way. Collapsed in front of the guild counter was Taaljheyz, a hatchet sticking out of her forehead. I could only recognize her because she was wearing the same attire that she had the day I met her. Looking around, it appeared that roughly half of the human corpses had weapons sticking out of them.

Where's the basement? I thought quickly, my head pounding from the heat and lack of oxygen, he said there was a basement. The stairs to the upper level had collapsed from the flames, rather it had weakened from the flames and collapsed with someone on it. There was only one other door that hadn't been caved in, probably because it was open. The room behind appeared to be food storage, nothing useful. Is it hidden? Maybe somewhere under the rubble? Not a whole lot of the building had collapsed, but the floor was far from unobstructed.

I exhaled, then took a breath through the worn filters of the mask. I could tell immediately that it wasn't fresh air, but it was breathable. The stench of burning meat and wood just barely touched my nose, but the fact that even that much was detectable meant that the filter wouldn't last much longer. I walked over to the stairs, hoping that the way down to whatever basement might exist would be nearby. It's just a bunch of floorboards, but, what's this? I stubbed the toe of my boot on a metal nub, then crouched down to get a better look. A handle?

Pulling on the handle did nothing at first, but twisting it and then pulling ripped up a section of the floorboards which promptly fell apart, tumbling down into a pit it had been covering. A crude iron ladder led down into the darkness, but nothing much else was visible. With only a moment's thought, I jumped down into the darkness. A rock floor came up to meet me around two meters in, and the air cooled considerably. I took a breath and got air that stank of smoke but was still oxygenated enough to be worth inhaling.

The floorboards must have been tight enough to make a partial seal, so the air didn't get sucked out and consumed down here, I thought as flames roared above me, I'll need to be fast though, it won't stay that way for long now that it's open. An orb of light appeared above my head, illuminating a carved stone hallway with two rooms at the end of it. There could still be hostiles down here, I should be cautious, I thought as I drew my blade. In the purple glow of fluorescing air, I could see the bloodstains which marred the walls, ceiling, and floor. Most looked days, or even weeks old. I reached the end of the hallway, looked at both of the iron doors on either side of me, and then picked the one to my left.

To my surprise, the door wasn't locked, and it came open with a simple shove. The screeching of metal on stone stopped abruptly once friction bled away the door's momentum, and the pale light from my orb which filled the room illuminated an unmistakable torture chamber, complete with dark painted walls and a thrashing subject who was constrained to a device in the center. I checked my corners, saw that the room was empty besides the victim, then stepped inside. It was only once I had crossed the threshold of the door that I realized the room wasn't actually painted, its walls simply had enough dried overlapping bloodstains to appear as if it were.

The man in the room had no hands or feet, and his arms and legs had been bound to a six-armed torture rack by large nails that had been put through his forelimbs. I couldn't see his features because of the bag over his head, and his cries were muffled by an unseen gag. Other than the bag, the only piece of clothing he was wearing was a simple loincloth, not even large enough to fully cover him. His chest and upper abdomen were a patchwork of scars, dug along twisting lines that appeared to have been made slowly and deliberately. Even the vestigial nipples that most human men had were invisible underneath the heavy scarring caused by repeated mutilation.

The man stilled for a moment, then began to thrash even harder when I started walking towards him. The sound of my footsteps so disturbed him that his movements began pulling against the nails holding him to the rack, re-opening the wounds they had created and letting his blood ooze out. Looking around, the rest of the room was covered in bladed implements, with a few buckets and filthy towels set aside in the far right corner. I took a breath again, hesitantly even though I knew that the air should be safe, then pulled the bag off of the man's head.

Koyl's face looked back at me with a stick bound into his mouth by a thin rope, so tightly that his lips were being torn by it. His eyes, lacking the normal cool demeanor I had become used to, were wild and fearful. He stank so badly that I could smell him through the filter on my mask and looked as though he hadn't been bathed since he was captured. I see, I thought with an exhale, the bucket and towels were for the torturer. I put away my sword and drew a utility knife, which caused Koyl to start screaming through his gag when I brought it up to his face. With a single motion, I slit the rope and removed his gag, which fell to the ground with a wet smack.

“P-Please, I gave- gave you everything you w-wanted!” he begged. “I don't- I don't- I don't know anything else! I swear on my f-family name, I don't know anything else about him!” His panic sobs turned to a shrill scream at the end of his declaration, spewing out what little saliva was left in his mouth. The words echoed off the stone walls, then the room went silent. “Just don't c-cut me open again, please,” Koyl pleaded. “I c- I can't take it anymore. I c-c-c-” He broke down into full-blown sobbing, unable to form words, and slumping in defeat.

“That won't be necessary,” I said through the mask. Putting away my knife, I looked around for some tool I could use to free him. Whatever had been used to put the nails through Koyl's arms and legs was nowhere to be found, and the wide heads of the nails prevented me from simply tearing him off of the mount he was attached to. “I may need to remove your limbs just below the elbow and knee,” I stated, and Koyl's filthy face went white.

“P-p-pl-” he stuttered, still unable to speak properly.

“Have they been feeding you?” I asked. “Is your rapid-healing functioning fully? Answer quickly, the building is on fire.” Koyl's sobbing sputtered to a halt, and I saw confusion overtake fear and despair on his face. Then, his eyes widened in recognition, he seemed to regain his composure somewhat, and he coughed to clear his throat.

“Ra-rapid-” he began, but then stopped himself and shook his head. “They've b-been feeding me dead... rats and actual s-shit, but I've been fed. Are you-?”

“This is going to hurt,” I interrupted, drawing my sword once again, “however, you will die if I don't do this. Please try to remain as still as possible.” Without giving Koyl a moment to brace himself I cut the portion of his right arm below the nail off. Koyl choked, then cried out in pain, cradling the severed limb to his chest. I watched as new skin grew over the wound in seconds.

“Just do the rest q-quickly,” Koyl winced. I nodded, then chopped his other arm. His reaction to the pain was less pronounced than before, and he used the right stump to brace himself to the device so that he wouldn't fall forwards. Two swings later, Koyl's body flopped to the ground, losing its loincloth, and he looked up at me groggily. His eyes seemed unable to focus on any one spot.

“Look at me,” I commanded. Koyl's eyes turned to me but kept vibrating from side to side. “Are you moving your eyes like that deliberately?” I asked gravely.

“I feel strange,” Koyl slurred, “can't focus...” The poison is finally reaching the basement, I thought, at least Koyl is calming down. I can get him out quickly from here.

“It's blue leaf poison,” I said, “try to breathe as little as possible.” Sheathing my blade again, I lifted Koyl up and then threw him over my back, making sure not to pierce his body on the head of my spear. Shame I didn't remove enough of his limbs to fit him in the backpack, I thought grimly, then I felt two stumps wrap tightly around my shoulders and sternum. “We're leaving now,” I told him, “hold on tightly.” I walked towards the exit as quickly as I thought I could move without throwing Koyl off. We crossed out into the hallway and I turned right, but Koyl's right stump bumped my chest.

“Stop,” he croaked, “the other room has... money.” I had to take a moment to appreciate just how insane Koylzmeyl Zae'ey'yaob was to be thinking about money in such a situation.

“Doesn't matter,” I said, “we'll both die if we stay much longer.”

“No,” Koyl insisted, “it's a... a lot of-” he coughed and hacked, interrupting himself. “Just open the door, you'll see.” Against my better judgment, I turned to the closed door and kicked it as hard as I could, sending it screeching across the floor. The room inside was smaller than the torture chamber and had only a single table and chair inside for furniture. In the corner of the room were what appeared to be vats of chemicals, and the entire surface of the table was covered in stacks of coins. He wasn't kidding, I thought, that is a lot of money.

“We can come back for it,” I said, knowing as I said it that it wasn't the case.

“No,” Koyl retched, “bag in the corner... fill it.” It was an order, and an order I didn't need persuasion to follow. Grabbing a rucksack from the corner I hastily filled it with as much of the currency as I could fit. Koyl let go of my back, plopping to the floor, then looked up at me when I turned around. “Backpack too... fill both,” he moaned, then his eyes rolled back in his head for a moment and he fell over.

“Damn it Koyl,” I swore, “this is already enough, and we don't have time.” I stripped the backpack off, dumped the rucksack into it, then slipped the backpack on in reverse and threw Koyl back over my shoulders. Koyl was barely conscious but had enough awareness to keep his remaining arm muscles tight once they were in position, and I ran back out into the hallway once I was sure he wouldn't fall off.

The first floor was beginning to crumble when I reached the top of the ladder. The fire had grown so hot that it was melting some of the softer metals in view. Various coins and lanterns were sagging as though they were made of wet paper, their surfaces glistening. Seeing the exit, I grabbed Koyl's arms to secure him further and bolted. Flames licked at my body, scorching hair from my arms and exposed leg, but posed no threat to me beyond pain.

I burst out of the burning building into a crowded street, tripping due to a misstep and barely catching my balance in time to avoid a fall. The strap on the back of my mask snapped and it fell to the ground, shattering one of the eyepieces. Some of the stitching was on fire, and a quick check of my body showed that other sections of my clothing were burning as well. Dozens of pairs of eyes, fearful and curious, locked onto me. I saw humans crowding around Yaavtey's body, and only then did it occur to me that someone else might try to steal credit for my kill. I need to get proof quickly, I thought, I can put Koyl down and just take the whole head, then-

“Vehrehr City Guard!” called a familiar, stern female voice. “I'm constable Lihjha Kowvuw, and every single one of you is being detained for questioning! Don't make us chase you if don't want to get beaten!” Everyone froze for just under half a second. Then, the entire street burst into a flurry of undirected motion all at once.