147 Mystery Road (1/2)

\”We're surrounded,\” Luca proclaimed as he gazed out at the street from our second-floor window.

His proclamation was more or less the same report I received from Thor's kobolds and Thom's drow.

\”Can we expect their number to thin by dawn?\” Ashley asked.

\”No such luck,\” I responded while I checked the map of the city laid out on the table. \”Mostly fairies out there.\”

\”Um, I know I'm new to this and all, but, now that you've taken off my collar… won't dawn take me back to Mudgard?\” Ty spoke up from the chair furthest away from the window. He caressed his neck which was probably a response from remembering the collar that bound him to the Fayne. \”That's how it works, right?\”

I glanced over to my friend, freshly healed by Berrian less than an hour ago, and noticed he still had a scar on his left cheek. I had no doubt that a lot of his physical scars remained as not everything was healed by magic or potion.

Even worse, the emotional scarring caused by his tortures was definitely still there. Just seeing how he was desperately trying to smile confirmed this fact for me.

\”True, you'd get to go back to Mudgard, but when you return at dusk, you'll arrive right where you vanished which would be here,\” Aura answered him.

She'd been sitting at his side, acting as a proxy for Arah and just made him feel like he was safe among friends. Her caring nature just made her seem more incredible to me.

\”You don't have an anchor so they wouldn't be able to bring you along even if they left, and buying you one right now won't serve our purposes,\” I added. \”Because even if they left the city your anchor could still be stolen and you and I wouldn't be around to help at all…\”

\”Oh, yeah, you're right… Stupid question,\” Ty said dejectedly.

I couldn't really help Ty now so I left Aura to console him while I returned my focus to the map.

\”There's no other way out of this city, is there?\” I asked for confirmation. \”Just this one entrance that leads up to the oasis above?\”

Zephyra pointed a finger toward the right side of the map which was opposite the entrance we'd entered. \”There's a shaft here that leads to a cavern on the surface. But it's a perilous path filled with unseen dangers… which is why it was closed a few years ago.\”

\”I know that shaft. Smugglers who couldn't get in by normal means used to use it to get into the city,\” Shanks added.

\”Used to?\” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shanks scratched his head. \”Well… I heard a lot of them never made it into the city… got done in by whatever lives there.\”

\”Muddamit,\” Qwipps swore. \”You just had to say it…\”

\”Sounds quite foolhardy, Commander,\” Varda piped in. \”Which is probably why we're going that way.\”

\”You know me so well,\” I said. Then I turned to Ashley. \”Are you up for another decoy mission?\”

\”Have I become your go-to sacrificial pawn?\” she asked wryly.

Ashley noticed Ty staring at her with his jaw slightly hanging open.

\”What?\” she asked.

\”Y-you're really A-ashley J-johnson?\” he asked tongue-tied.

It was then that I remembered that Ty had a crush on Ashley back on Mudgard. This brought another smile to my face.

\”You can ogle her later, Tiberius,\” I said in a very Arah like way.

I rose to my feet and tapped on the map.

\”Alright, here's the plan,\” I began.

The plan I cooked up went like this. Ashley would lead most of our forces along with Shanks' caravan and Kallista's retinue out of the city with all haste and flare. It was their job to get noticed and followed. Zephyra's two children would join Ashley's band for quick communication. Zephyra herself would join me and a smaller group of hand-picked fighters on our journey through the perilous shaft. Shanks' would come along too in case we needed some heavy lifting.

\”We have a few hours before dawn arrives so ideally, we'd all be out of the city and on our journey home by then,\” I answered.

\”Once we're out of the shaft, we can take a little-known southern trail to cross the desert while the other group takes the eastern road caravans usually take,\” Shanks suggested. \”It's a more roundabout way but there should be fewer encounters.\”

I nodded in agreement right before I turned to Ashley and gave her one final instruction.

\”No fighting. Run if you can, but if you can't then surrender and let them inspect your cargo. Once they're sure Ty isn't there, they'll probably leave you alone and assume we stayed behind,\” I ordered.

\”In case they don't leave us alone?\” she asked.