The group remained in hiding for a few days while the city calmed down. They knew that the guards couldn’t maintain such a large presence throughout the city for very long. There had been several patrols nearby over the last few days, fewer with each day. None had seen through the enchantments.
Tensions in the safe house were high, especially after Sebastian’s reveal.
After all, there was a big difference in sheer resources available in the search for a few smugglers, and the manhunt for a lost hero candidate.
As such, they had spent more time on keeping watch and preparing for the eventuality of being discovered rather than planning their own escape.
Sebastian had mostly cultivated and used his essence to heal his arm and other injuries. He would help out whenever he could with whatever needed doing, but there wasn’t much for him to do other than cultivate and recuperate.
Rafi and Bishop worked on the issue of escaping Luxendorf while the others kept watch.
As their confidence grew with the decreased guard presence, they decided it was time to make some decisions and proper plans.
Bishop called everyone over to gather around the living room table.
“As we’ve discussed, our only hope is for all of us to cross the border.” Bishop paused to look around the table, at each of his companions. “We’ve prepared for this, our contingency in Celder is our only option.”
“There’s no coming back from that,” Silas said. “What about the safe house in Galseff’s Hollow?”
Rafi shook his head and answered, “We talked about it, but this thing is too big. If we stay in the kingdom there won’t be anywhere to hide. They will hunt us down no matter where we go.
“We need to make a run for Celder, and we need to do it now. The guards may be somewhat low on manpower right now due to the war, but they’ve almost certainly called for reinforcements that will likely arrive within the week.” He got up and fetched a map a large map of the city from the corner and rolled it out over the table. “There aren’t many exits out of the city, and I’ve considered them all. In total there are only about 10: the four main gates, the aerial access by the main wall outpost, the sewer outlet, and of course the obvious choice—the four unofficial passages.”
Carvell, the gentle giant who served as the party’s tank, suddenly spoke out. Sebastian had barely heard him say a word since they first met. Everyone looked over and paid attention to his every word. Although he didn’t speak much, or often, it was obvious that everyone respected and valued his input. “Three. Gillan got caught bringing in some Jackalopes last week. They sealed the passage that’s over by the guild.”
Rafi sighed. “Three unofficial passages then. The four main gates are off the table. We would have to fight our way through, and it’s unlikely that we would make it. The guards may be undermanned, but there’s still more than enough of them to be a problem. Not to mention, the enchantments on the gates are no joke.
“The aerial access would be a nightmare. The outpost is every bit as guarded as the main gates, and without actual flying mounts it wouldn’t do us much good anyway.
“The sewer outlet could work. It’s not very protected, but that’s also for a rather good reason. I looked into it last year for a job. It’s a small pipe, although just big enough for Carvell and the Boss—and the rest of us of course—to crawl through. Trouble is that it runs under the entire outer regions and past the outer wall. We’re talking upward of 24 hours of crawling through an active sewer line with hourly system purges and numerous gates to get through, without setting off the alarm bells. I’m gonna vote no on that one.” Everyone around the table voiced their agreement in favor of not choosing the sewer outlet. “So… that bring us back to the obvious answer—one of the three unofficial passages.”
Sebastian raised his hand awkwardly. “Not to ask the obvious about these ‘unofficial’ passages. But, how do we know that the guards haven’t found out about them?”
Bishop shook his head. “It’s unlikely, they may be somewhat of an open secret among the common folk, but too many people have too much to lose if the guards find them. Hunters, farmers, merchants, and criminals alike, they all rely on the ability to enter and exit the city undetected at times. The elites and the nobles may not use them, or know any details about them, but they always want something or other that can’t be taken either in or out through the main gates. Anyone who snitches will be blacklisted; it’s happened once or twice in the past.” Bishop leaned forward. “They’ll be open. The issue will be choosing which one to use and getting there, and then getting past the outer wall once we’re through.”
Rafi pointed to an area by the western edge of the city. “Here, the west point. There’s an access point from the maintenance tunnels close by. We’ll go there and sneak over to the west point. Once through, we make our way through the path in fields of the outer region over to the western watch tower.
“It’ll probably be more heavily manned than usual since they’re looking for us, but if we take out the guards we should be able to find a cart or carriage by the tower stables, and we can head to the woodlands from there. The regular paths to the woodlands will likely be under watch by patrols, so we’ll need to go through to the western hunting grounds. It’s been pretty barren lately, so the patrols shouldn’t be paying much attention there. Even if they do, it’s a lot of ground for them to cover.”
Bishop nodded and looked around, taking in everyone’s faces and their determination. “Alright, the west is dangerous, but it’s the best plan we got. Everybody, get ready.”
They waited until sundown and went back down into the maintenance tunnels.
Rafi opened the enchanted wall and closed it again behind them once they were all through. The stench was somehow even more pungent this time, likely since it wasn’t yet late enough for the city to be mostly asleep.
It took them even longer to get through the tunnels this time as well. Not only did they have to travel farther, they also had to be even more careful as they didn’t know how far the guard’s search had extended. For all they knew a guard could be behind any corner. All of them, however—Dolan in particular—had very heightened senses and/or Detection Skills. They kept their guards up and moved carefully.
It wasn’t until after the sun had set that they finally reached the exit they were looking for.
Dolan went up the ladder first and scouted the area and quietly called out to the others, “All clear.”
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One by one, they climbed up and hid behind some bushes. They slowly and carefully sneaked over to the wall where they located a crack covered by vegetation. Bishop pushed the vegetation aside and let the others squeeze through the crack into the wall.
Sebastian entered the crack and found that it led to a long dark tunnel. It was only wide and tall enough that they could walk through it, although Carvell, and to some extent Bishop, had to crouch slightly so as to not hit their heads. The stone walls inside the tunnel were dark, darker than the outside wall itself. It was as though something, or someone, had melted the stone. There was a circular pattern to the surface. Someone had gone through and used some Skill or piece of equipment to carefully construct the tunnel and then taken care to smooth out the floor.
As they walked through the interior of the wall, Sebastian reached out and touched the wall. It was as smooth as obsidian, and he was surprised to find that the stone was warm. Silas walked behind him and noticed Sebastian’s surprise.
“It’s the enchantments. The wall is heavily enchanted with all sorts of effects, and as a by-product, the wall heats up. You’ll only ever find an effect like this on something with this much magic running through it, which isn’t easy to find. If not for someone making some small mistake which years later caused a small crack to form, it would take an enormous amount of power to break through the surface of the wall. The interior isn’t quite as protected so over the years people have managed to dig through and make a handful of these passages in and out of the city.”
The wall was thick, but it didn’t take very long to walk through it. Soon, the warm, melted stone turned to cold dirt. The tunnel had a slight downward slant and led into the ground on the other side. They followed that dirt tunnel for about a 100 meters or so until they reached a hatch built into the irrigation system of the fields.
Sebastian took a step outside and felt the breeze and the smell of crops and fertilizer.
They moved quickly as they ran through a path hidden by rows of crops. The outer region was vast. Even though they were moving at speeds that would break world records back home, it would still take over an hour, maybe two to reach the outer wall.
POV Kevin Vane, Luxendorf City Guard HQ
Four long desks in a 2 by 2 grid faced a wall of various projections and magical displays. Behind each desk sat two Intelligence Officers with a handful of crystals in front of them, each flashing different colors. In the back stood Kevin and the rest of the higher ups, anxiously waiting for news.
The city had been quiet for several days and tensions were running high.
Each day that passed without getting closer to Sebastian weighed heavy on Kevin’s heart.
A guard hurriedly stepped up to Interim Commander Wadley and saluted.
“Sir!”
“Report”
“Our mages detected movement in the western fields, sir!”
The commander looked over his shoulder. “It seems you were right, Mr. Bronte. They did find a way through the wall. I was apprehensive about clearing out the entire outer region. It took a full day, and we can’t afford to keep the workers away for very long, but your intel payed off.”
Boss Raph looked down on the interim commander and grunted in derision. “And when can I expect payment?”
“Mr. Bronte, the deal was to help us capture them. We move to intercept them immediately. If you do your part and aid us in the capture of these demons then, and only then, will you receive your reward, and then some.”
Boss Raph simply snorted in clear disapproval but stood up and followed the commander and the hero candidate out of the room. They walked toward the stables by the aerial access of the wall where four elite guards in all black armored uniforms were waiting.
These were all the elites the commander had been able to muster for the operation. Most of the city’s high leveled individuals had either been sent to aid the war effort or were stationed at outposts and other military installations in the region to provide vital security for the city against monsters. This placed them outside the jurisdiction of the interim commander’s temporary authority.
He had been driving Kevin mad with all his whining and complaining about it the past few days.
Kevin mounted his wyvern while the commander mounted a small griffin, The other five, Boss Raph included, mounted five large birds with saddles on their backs.
The commander looked back toward the highest leveled warriors at his disposal. “There’s not much to damage out there, besides some farmland, so there is no need to concern ourselves with collateral damage. Our primary objective is to capture the demons alive. If they resist and leave us no other option, we kill them all.”
“Just remember, Sebastian is mine!” Kevin shouted with a look of anger and betrayal on his face.
POV Sebastian
Sebastian and the five hunters ran for most of the way to the watch tower.
They had yet to encounter any trouble and were growing increasingly optimistic.
The watch tower of the outer wall was only about a fifteen minute run away when Dolan’s Detection Skills gave a warning.
“Wait! Something’s coming.”
The group halted and tried to make use of their various Stealth Skills to keep hidden, hoping that whatever it was that Dolan detected would simply pass them by.
Luxendorf didn’t have a large aerial force, but they had been expecting some flying patrols.
What arrived wasn’t a simple patrol, however.
Seven large beasts, led by a wyvern and griffin, came flying toward them at a high speed. They immediately realized that they had been discovered and booked it.
No matter how fast they ran, though, they couldn’t outrun the flying mounts. Moments later, the beasts landed in front of the group, cutting off their escape.
Interim Commander Wadley jumped down from his griffin, and the others followed suit.
“Demons! Surrender quietly or we take you by force.”
Sebastian, Bishop, and the others stayed silent. They knew that guards weren’t interested in the truth, and they wouldn’t be able to convince them that they weren’t demons once they had been declared as such.
“I’ll take that as a no then,” Wadley said. Before he had a chance to issue any commands to his men, Boss Raph tackled Bishop off into the distance.
It took everyone by surprise, but the commander recovered his wits quickly. He and his warriors engaged the remaining four hunters.
Large areas of crops were flattened, craters formed from impacts, and dust storms covered the field.
All the while Sebastian and Kevin stared at each other.
“Kevin,” Sebastian offered an awkward greeting.
“Sebastian, been a while.” Kevin’s jaw clenched and his face twitched. “You know, I’ve been wondering all these weeks I’ve been searching for you. How does it feel?”
Sebastian’s face scrunched up in confusion. “How does what feel?”
An anger gradually built up on Kevin’s face. “Being a monster who kills innocent people to grow stronger, past your pathetic limit. How does it feel being a fucking demon?!”
Sebastian took a step back and held up his hands slowly in front of him. A universal sign of peace to try and calm Kevin down. “Kevin,” he said as softly and gently as he could, careful not to set off what he recognized as a powder keg in the shape of a man. “I’m not a demon, and I definitely haven’t killed any innocent people for power. They lied to you.”
The hero candidate wasn’t listening. “Was it worth it? Huh?! Betraying the kingdom who took care of us. Betraying Lyra, who trained us, who gave us purpose, who gave us everything! Betraying humanity itself?! Instead of thanking them, helping them, you become a fucking demon!”
“You’re wrong! Listen to me, she lied to you! Kevin, she tried to kill me!”
Kevin angrily pointed at Sebastian. “Don’t you fucking dare, you demon scum. Lyra is an angel! All she wants is to protect this world, to defeat evil, and you turn on her, on all of us.”
Sebastian took a few careful steps back as he realized that nothing he said was calming the young man down. “No! She did this. I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“I SAW IT!” Kevin shouted as he banged on his own chest in fury. “I was the one who found them, the farmers you sacrificed for your blood magic!”
“What are you talking about… I— I haven’t done any blood magic! The reason I was able to surpass my limit is because I discovered cultivation.”
The animated fury melted away as pure hatred and disgust took its place on Kevin’s face. “YOU FUCKING WHAT!? That’s all it is to you? Fucking farming?!”
“Farming?” Sebastian’s genuine confusion gave way to an understanding. Not everyone was familiar with the concept of cultivation. “What… NO! That’s not what I—”
“FUCK YOU!” Kevin screamed as he launched himself toward Sebastian.
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