Chapter 638 - Kulah (Part 2) (1/2)

”What are your orders, Captain Ernas?” There was something in the way Morok said the word that made it sound like an insult.

”Let's move. We need to reach the ruins as soon as possible. Ranger Eari, you and two of my men take point. Ranger Verhen, cover our back. Everyone else, if someone tries to sneak away from the group, strike first and ask questions later.”

The three soldiers nodded, making the Assistant Professors swallow. None of them had expected their bodyguards to turn into their jailers.

Morok picked up the pace and so did everyone else. Everyone walked in silence, they were too busy watching their steps to waste energy chatting.

Lith was alone with Quylla again and was now worried about another unexpected turn of events. The more they advanced, the fewer creatures he would spot along the corridors until the group was completely alone.

'Whatever Kulah is, it seems that no one dares to come close to it. Let's hope I don't meet my third Lich.' Lith thought.

After more than four hours of walking, the group needed a break. From that moment onwards, only the members of the military were allowed to stand guard, whereas the others had to stay grouped together, making it harder for anyone to escape from their watch.

Aside from moss, nothing grew inside the tunnels, making them all look identical.

As hours turned into days, most members of the expedition started to fall into depression. There was no sunlight, the air was stale and smelly, making it painful to breathe from time to time.

Morok was still able to find his way thanks to the marks he had left while escaping from the Abomination-goblin hybrids, but every time he opened a new passage, he could see doubt and mistrust in the eyes of the others.

They were growing afraid that he had lost his way and their lives in the process. The group was so deep inside Mogar that dimensional magic was useless. All places looked the same, so opening a Warp Steps was no longer an option.

Using earth magic with no idea where they were was likely to result in getting stranded or even cause a fatal cave-in.

The impossibility to do anything but walking, sleeping, and eating was a heavy burden for everyone which worsened with each rest they took. The dullness of their routine turned the enthusiasm of the discovery into a bleak, hopeless silence.

More than once one of the Assistants had a claustrophobic attack and needed to e sedated. According to Lith's pocket watch, only four days had passed, but to everyone the march seemed to have lasted weeks.

”Here we are. This is where I was forced to stop during my first visit. Now it's all up to you, smarty-pants.” Morok said.

The group had reached a huge underground cave of irregular shape which was at least 100 meters (330 feet) wide with a ceiling about 20 meters (66 feet) high. Once again, Lith could see that aside from moss, there was no life form dwelling in the vicinities.

The floor was too regular to not be man made and several corridors departed from the cave. Each one of them had been clearly realized with earth magic and was wide enough to allow a huge carriage to easily pass.

”Where do they lead?” Lith asked.

”I don't know. I had no time to play explorer, my priority was survival. The moment we were cleared to leave, we took the same path back to the surface. It was the safest route.” Morok replied.

”As you have probably noticed, there's not much to eat down here, so any predator that gets stranded will welcome our arrival as if we're a free meal ready for the taking.

”We can't close the passages without running out of fresh air but we can't leave them like this.”