Raiding the Labyrinth

Chapter XXVIII

Raiding the Labyrinth

When Enji stepped out of Galakei’s tent, his sight was filled with lively crowds that were busily setting up new tents on the camp’s empty spaces.

“Reinforcements from the capital had arrived,” Maka informed. Enji still had not gotten used to the vampires’ ability to approach undetected.

“That’s a lot of people.”

“Those are mostly servants and aids to the nobles.” Maka pointed to a place next to the wall. “That’s the real help. Mages and soldiers employed by the nobles.”

Enji studied them. The ones with leather helmets must have been the soldiers; the others wore regular clothes. Enji had heard that only guild mages wore robes. The soldiers numbered around twenty, and the mages five. “Then in the end, the nobles decided to help.” Enji glanced at a group of people, not far from where they were, whose clothes betrayed them as nobles.

“They want to gain prestige and, most importantly, favors from the king.” Maka’s face reflected her dislike of the nobles.

“Crap! They are looking at me.”

“Do you want me to escort you, my lord?”

“No. Remain with the mage. I’ll manage.”

Enji decided to go to Eithea’s tent. Probably the meeting would be over. As he strolled close to the group of nobles, he could hear them commenting about him.

“That’s the Black Demon!”

“He’s a Lord.”

“The Black Demon Lord?”

Come on, guys! Cut it out with the foreshadowing. I don’t need any more trouble in my life.

“I heard he uses grand magic!”

“And he controls monsters!”

“What?”

“He has many goblin women with him.”

“I have never seen a goblin woman.”

Enji stopped and turned around. When he reached Galakei’s tent, Maka was still guarding outside the tent. “Something wrong, my lord?”

“I’m worried about the goblins with all these nobles around. Are there some trustworthy people who can be assigned to guard them? Especially, Oma.”

“Leave it to me, my lord, I’ll find them.”

“Thanks.” Enji resumed walking toward his destination. He couldn’t reach it without being stopped.

“You are the Grand Mage’s disciple, right?”

Enji looked at the man who stood in his way. A noble, for sure, he could tell by his ostentatious clothing. Next to him, in a not less flashy outfit, was a woman.

“How may I be of help?”

“Help? You use some strange phrases.” The noble smirked.

“Who are you? Where I come from, it is common courtesy to give your name first before asking for the other person’s information.”

The noble scowled at Enji. “You dare retort to me! Don’t you know who I am?”

Enji was losing his patience. He turned to the rest of the nobles who had gotten closer to hear their exchange. “Someone wants to help this man! He seems not to know who he is!” Enji shouted.

Some of the nobles gawked at Enji in bewilderment, others smiled, and a few, those who were shielding themselves behind the others, laughed.

“The noble confronting Enji, whose face had taken a vivid purple tinge, took a step back from him and drew his sword. The woman ran to take cover with the other nobles.

Enji weighed between unsheathing his sword and burning him to cinders right where he stood. He didn’t need to choose. Skia had appeared out of nowhere, and her blade was pressed against the noble’s neck.

“Lord Shakos, you are lucky that Lady Skia stopped you; if not, your death from Grand Mage Enji would have been excruciating.”

Everyone turned to the woman who had spoken. Her hair was silver, the same as her upper ears and tail, and she wore a patch over one of her eyes.

“That’s the fox woman from the palace!”

“She showed no respect to the king!”

“But the king respects her.”

“Are you all stupid! Don’t you know her? She’s Princess Melieithea [Rilai] Lith!”

Meli... that has a nice ring to it. Wait! I’m no grand mage!

“Grand Mage?” Shakos’ color had flitted from his face.

“All of you, stop meddling around and get your men ready. We are raiding the labyrinth!” Eithea commanded with a clear voice. Making the nobles scramble to their camps. Even Shakos withdrew in silence.

Eithea faced Enji. “Are you rested?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.” Enji had been watching the nobles’ panicked retreat. “Why did you call me grand mage?”

“Everyone has been calling you that after witnessing what you did against the [graks].”

“But to be a grand mage, don’t I need to take a test or something?”

“What gave you that idea? Anyway, you need to get ready too! The girls are waiting by your tent. Skia, thanks, I can walk alone.”

“Yes, my lady.” Skia bowed her head, then, turning to Enji, she said, “Let’s go, my worm, we need to get our party ready!”

“Yes, Skia.” Enji followed the beautiful vampire girl.

***

Galakei whispered in Enji’s ear, “Add Tona to your party.”

Enji turned to her. “Only her?”

“Yes, she’s the one I don’t trust. Her origin is clouded in mystery; she might not be what she claims.”

“What do you mean?”

“The merchant Eithea bought her from has ties with the Tilek Theocracy.”

“A spy? But...” In his old world, a tactic employed by enemy or distrustful nations was to plant sleeper cells that would be activated if needed. “I understand.”

Enji rose from his chair. “Skia, we should add Tona to our party.”

Skia shot a quick glance at Galakei before replying, “Good idea. Oi, long ears, you are with us.”

“What? Me... with those—I-I will comply. She changed her tune after being glared at by Skia.

“What about us?” Senta, the middle-aged guild mage, asked

“You three will still be part of Simier’s party.”

The mage Lika was still recuperating from her wounds. So, only Senta, Gomrekia, and Tiloki would join Simier. His mercenary party consisted of a warrior woman named Masia, the spearman Hin, a young mage girl named Gloram, and Lumo, a boy of about ten, whose specialty Enji was unsure of.

“It’ll be a pleasure working with you, Lord Enji.” Simier, smiling, waved at him. The members of his party nodded in agreement.

“The nobles’ forces and the knights with the guild’s mages will go in first. Simier’s party will follow. Then we will close the rear.” Skia stopped her pacing. She stood at the center of those gathered in front of Galakei’s tent, casting her gaze across all the members of the two parties.

“Good, that means we at the rear will not be exposed to danger,” Tona said in a smug tone.

“You are mistaken, Ultonaliefang, Enji’s party, even if it starts last, would be the one on the vanguard. They are taking a shortcut.” Galakei corrected the elf.

“A-a shortcut?” Tona asked, unsure of what the mage meant.

“Here comes their ‘shortcut’.” Galakei smiled.

Oma, accompanied by Eithea, approached the group. She wore a pair of shorts similar to the ones Silma had; these were probably hers. A leather bustier corset, paired with a simple blouse, and a leather helmet completed the ensemble.

Dressed like that, hiding her bald head under the helmet, she looked like a regular girl with green skin.

“At first she refused to wear the helmet,” Galakei whispered to Enji. “But Eithea made her wear it.”

“Why?”

“We don’t want any of those working under the stupid nobles taking a shot at her because of her exposed green head, mistaking her for a monster or intentionally.”

“Right...” Oma with a wig would look like a cute short girl. Enji shook his head fast, trying to dispel the intrusive thoughts.

***

With Oma guiding them, they navigated the pathways with ease. Oma had left her baby with one of her sisters; Enji wasn’t sure if she meant real sisters or sisterhood. Oma now carried a short lance in addition to the knife Enji had gifted her.

At this pace, it feels like we are speedrunning in a game. Enji gave Tona a quick side glance. If she’s a spy, what is her mission?

Enji had previously asked if it was possible to go between the trees instead of the pathways. The answer was that the trees were constantly shifting, and he would be crushed or impaled by their thorns. Are they sentient? Eyed the trees with new respect.

Oma stopped and signaled with her hand to wait. She went ahead and, after a couple of minutes, returned from the tunnel formed by tree branches.

“Many [spreght] dead. Fight with [Guja].” She pointed to the tunnel path while repeating her warning.

The first time she said ‘spreght,’ Enji thought it was a new kind of monster, but later the translator overdubbed it with ‘orc.’

They emerged at a clearing. Bodies were strewn everywhere in grotesque death poses. Some missing members, others unrecognizable. A rough estimate would place the body count at about twenty-five. The ‘gulas’ or ‘graks’, by whatever name you called them, were vicious beasts.

“How long ago, do you think this happened?” Skia turned to Sol.

“I would peg it at early today.”

“This is horrible, even if they are monsters.” Nilsei shook her head, dismayed.

“They seem to have been caught by surprise and didn’t have a chance to fight,” Silma remarked.

“Are you feeling sorry for the monsters?” Tona looked at the two girls as if they were crazy.

“I heard something!” Popa gestured for them to be quiet. “It sounds like labored breathing.”

Sol used his detection sense. “Over there!”

Carefully, they approached an area where several orcs had died, huddled together in a tight group. They were females. Pol, Sol, and Skia moved aside the corpses of three orc women piled together, and underneath, they found a live orc.

“It’s a juvenile,” Pol stated.

The young orc gaped at them with fear painted on his face.

“Aren’t you going to kill it?” Tona pointed at the orc. “Pest like that should be eradicated!”

There were various types of pests that people in Japan were continually trying to eliminate. Enji would tolerate mice as long as they stayed out of his sight, but he drew the line with cockroaches; they were evil.

Oma began talking to the orc child. Enji’s translator wouldn’t keep up. Is Orcish a language?

The orc replied something, and Oma turned to Enji. “Orcs ran from [guja]. [Guja] take cave.”

“Cave? Are there caves here?” Skia asked.

Oma talked to the orc some more, and according to what we understood of her translation of what the orc said, the orcs lived in an underground cave. Then, ‘hairy’ appeared, and ‘gulas’ began to emerge from the cave.

“It’s as the Mage suspected, those priests have something to do with the stampede.” Skia frowned as she pondered the implications. “Oma, can the child take us to the caves?”

Oma talked to the orc and then relayed what he said to them. “Silsil scared. Silsil no like [guja]”

“Is Silsil his name?”Nilsei asked.

“Silsil.” Oma pointed to the orc.

Enji kneeled next to the orc child. A child who was as tall as he was. Enji unwrapped his travel ration of crackers and offered them to the orc.

The orc looked at what Enji had in his hands and timidly grabbed one of the crackers. He ate it, and his eyes brightened. Enji gave the orc the whole ration.

“What are we going to do with him?” Nilsei asked.

“If we leave here, he will be killed when another party arrives at this clearing,” Skia replied.

“Could we tie him and force him to come with us?” Silma asked.

“Why not just kill it?” Tona questioned.

“You, shut up!” Skia snapped at her.

“Oma, tell Silsil to come with us. We will protect him.” Enji knew that taking the orc child with them was a risk; not only would it slow them down, but it could cause friction if they encountered another party. Especially the nobles led one.

The orc child agreed to go with them; he, too, understood that staying alone was not an option. The child, before following them, approached one of the dead orcs and hugged her, burying his head on her chest. Everyone waited for him to finish; they understood his pain.

The orc remained by Oma’s side as she guided the group. Eventually, he took over and led them to the caves.

When the party had stopped to rest and for refreshments, Enji observed the orc. He acts differently from the one who attacked Eithea’s house. “Oma are Raarea and orcs friendly to each other?”

“Orc no friend. Orc no... enemy.”

Enji was astonished by Oma’s reply, not about the orcs, but by her adopting the word enemy which she had heard from them. “Don’t they attack your people?”

“Orc slow... head.” She pointed to her head. “Orc at-attack no food.”

“Oh, you mean they get angry when hungry. Who wouldn’t be angry when hungry?”

“Silsil like Enji.”

“He likes me?”

“Well, you gave him food.” After Skia had overheard them, she sat next to Enji. “For being slow-witted as Oma describes orcs to be, this fellow seems fairly bright. Look.”

The orc boy was following Pol’s gestures, instructing him to collect dry twigs for the fire.

Silma approached them. “Oma, do the orcs have the same language as your people?”

“Orc here, yes. Orc other place no.”

That revelation surprised Enji. It would mean that a tribe of monsters from one labyrinth wouldn’t understand monsters from another place.

“Helam has a strange color tonight.” Nilsei pointed to the moon above them.

It was of dark brownish color, almost black, instead of the usual red. It took Enji a few seconds to realize the reason; the moon was in the new moon phase.

“They say that when Helam turns black, bad things happen,” Skia stated as she gazed at the sky.

That was probably superstition; the same when people on Earth blame the full moon for increased cases of murder. It would be nice to have a telescope.

With their march resumed, they delved deeper into the labyrinth. They encountered no monsters on the way in; the ‘guja’ must have taken care of cleaning the maze of them.

The pathway they were on led to a vast clearing. At its center, a rock formation rose a few meters above the ground. The reason the forest hadn’t choked out the rock outcroppings was due to the flagstone structure on one face of the rock hill. Just like other of its kind, they prevented it with ancient magic.

The smooth slate stones framed the cave’s entrance. Upon reaching the opening, darkness stared back at them when they peered inside. Debating whether using a lighting spell would give their presence to the enemy, they decided to rely on Silma’s ability to see in almost total darkness. Being a vampire, Skia’s vision was also excellent in low-light conditions, but not as good as the feline race.

After an hour of descending an incline on what appeared to be a man-made path, they began to see more clearly. In the distance, torches attached to the tunnel’s walls lit the way.

The tunnel ended at a massive cavern. The party stood on a platform that jutted out from the cavern’s wall, marvelling at the imposing sight. Below them, a small lake, whose water emitted a fluorescent glow, occupied most of the cavern’s floor.

The platform had a stone staircase on one side, carved out of the wall, snaking down to the floor below. The party carefully descended the treacherous stone steps, which, perhaps, after millennia of neglect, could unexpectedly crumble under their feet.

They tread carefully after reaching the cavern’s floor, wary of the many openings carved in the cave’s walls, which possibly were rooms or tunnels to another place.

Since they had set foot on the staircase, Sol had been using his senses to detect living things.

“It’s too diffuse to make sense of what they are, but there’s something over in that opening.” He pointed to a hole in the wall.

Skia, without taking her eyes off from where Sol had pointed, asked in a low voice, “Popa, what do you smell?”

“The smell of urine and feces from [gleths] overpowers my senses. At one point, I thought I had perceived the smell of something else, but it was lost under all the other odors.”

“Listen, this time the formation will be different,” Skia whispered to them. “Silma, Tona, you will be at the front and start your fireball incantations as soon as you both enter the tunnel. Pol, Sol, cover them with your bows. Nilsei, Popa, and I will be on standby behind you four. Enji, you follow next.” Skia looked at the goblin woman who had adopted a fighting stance with her spear. “Oma, guard Enji’s back and keep the boy close to you. Do you understand?”

“Oma understands. Enji, Silsil Oma protect.”

The party ventured into the tunnel. There was a reddish illumination at the end, maybe from torches.

They emerged into a large chamber. In its end was a stone altar, similar to the one where the guild mages fell into a trap. In front of the altar was what Enji supposed to be a sacrificial table, and behind the table stood the two Tilek’s priests, and a different kind of monster. A monster who was conversing with the two priests and, upon sensing the group’s intrusion into the chamber, cast them a look full of malice.

Enji recognized the monster. It was the one who had appeared in what he thought was a dream back when he rescued Skia.