Maya's Stand

With the first wave of monsters defeated, Cecilia called for Macy to seal the breach in the ground with a warding circle. She turned to view the silent crowd that surrounded them, and told them to evacuate to the upper levels in a voice of resignation.

She was surprised when the spectators began to move, streaming out onto the main walk of the promenade.

"Who are you?" asked the adventurer with the maul.

"Cecilia. Cecilia Gullfot," she replied. She straightened her posture and turned to the man. "Can your group make sure these people make it safely to the upper level?"

The man nodded, and went to his companions to leave with the mass of tourists.

Cecilia felt exhausted. She did not know if she could keep up with events anymore.

"Coffee?"

Cecilia turned to see Nadja proffering a steaming cup of dark brew, and gave thanks, taking it gratefully. Petra sat at a table nearby, trying to scrub ichor from the hem of her cloak.

"I can see why they price it the way they do," commented Nadja, taking a sip from her own cup. "I wonder what blend this is?"

"Gardanmah Solstice Reserve, I believe," commented Petra, tossing a leather-bound check booklet back onto the table.

Cecilia enjoyed her coffee as she watched Macy complete the magic circle. The two girls joined Petra and Nadja at the table afterwards.

As Nadja poured her a second cup, she heard the sound of erupting stonework from down the promenade. She rushed out into the main walkway to look down to the dust swirling near the location of Macy's first magic circle. The street was almost empty of people.

"Impossible," muttered Macy from her side. "My wards are impeccable."

As they started toward the new breach, armored figures were already intercepting the emerging monsters. Cecilia could see another group of figures that included some wizards providing support to the rear.

A man in a cobalt blue uniform and high fur cap approached them. He bowed with a nod, making a brief flourish with his hand.

"You are Senior Cadet Gullfot?" he addressed Cecilia in Gallic.

Cecilia gave a formal salute, and nodded. "Sir!"

The man gave her a thin smile.

"Our Asuvanian vanguards will take care of the situation now. Please return to your command center."

* * *

Leaving the tunnel that lead from the lifts, Cecilia found the central pit a hive of activity. As they walked to the command center, she could see the traffic of Selecta vanguards as they entered grim-faced into the dungeons, or exited leading civilian visitors or members of the provisional vanguards.

Cecilia left her companions at a cluster of tents that were set up as a recovery center for evacuees from the dungeon, and went to the command center to report to the Erziehungsoffizier by herself. Hilde stood at the Erziehungsoffizier's side. Apparently she had been informally detailed as the officer's assistant.

She saluted the officer and reported that she had delegated the evacuation of the auxiliaries to Cadets Hoechst and Schiff, but was unable to confirm the success of their mission due to the monster attacks, followed by the command to return to the staging area.

The Erziehungsoffizier nodded and told her to regroup with her vanguard to await further instructions. As she left the command post, she noticed sisters treating the wounded at a Verbandplatz. She headed to the tents hoping to find Sister Clara.

Sister Clara was treating two cadets as Wiltern and a girl in leather armor stood at his side looked on in concern. She was relieved that they had made it out of the dungeon.

"Wiltern!" Cecilia called out. "Have you seen Ruprecht?"

Wiltern turned to look at Cecilia with a strange look in his eyes. "Ye—yes," he stammered. "I saw him somewhere around here..."

Cecilia took in his group. "Where's Maya," Cecilia asked.

"She—she said she would hold them back so we could get away..." Wiltern told her weakly.

Cecilia frowned. She stepped close to Wiltern and grabbed him by the arm. "You're going to take me to where you left her," she stated coldly.

Cecilia looked down at Sister Clara, who stared at Cecilia in alarm. "Will you come with me?"

Sister Clara looked up in shock. Cecilia did not want to force the gentle sister, but she needed someone with healing powers on hand if Maya was badly hurt.

"I promise that I will not let anything happen to you," Cecilia stated with conviction. "Please, she may be hurt."

Sister Clara stood and smoothed down her robes.

"Yes, Cecilia, I will go with you."

Cecilia smiled in relief. She looked at the girl whom she assumed was Wiltern's scout. 

"Can you still fight?"

The girl nodded.

Cecilia dragged Wiltern from the Verbandplatz with Sister Clara and the scout in tow. After a few steps, she began to calm herself, and released Wiltern's arm.

"I apologize," she told him. "I was upset and did not mean to behave so disrespectfully." She never thought that she would ever have an occasion to express regret for her actions to Wiltern, yet she felt she had overstepped.

Wiltern did not look at her, but mumbled some words of grace as they continued to meet with the rest of Cecilia's party.

She asked the rest of her party to accompany her to rescue Maya.

Petra nodded with a grim look on her face, while Nadja shrugged. Macy looked unhappy and made an ambiguous rolling motion with her head. The group headed back into the dungeons lead by Wiltern's mononymous scout, Vroni.

* * *

Maya left piles of demonic corpses in her wake. She did not know how long she had been fighting. She had vowed never to let an opponent drain her stamina again, after her only defeat at Eisenfelde, but she had not envisaged such a scenario. 

They had ignored Cecilia's warnings and creatures had taken them by surprise. Lina and Saskia  were felled almost immediately, so she told Master Wiltern and Vroni to retreat with the wounded wizard and healer while she held the monsters back. 

She had to fight one-handed during their retreat. She held a gilded lantern in her other hand so she could see, but it tired her sword-arm faster. She experimented with attaching the lantern to her belt, but the swinging light created disorienting shadows that distracted her and allowed the creatures to land strikes against her.

Panting, she arrived at an intersection; with her mind in disarray, she could not remember which way they had come from. She released a cry of frustration. She thought for a moment, then took one of the ornate spikes that their team used for orienteering and drove it half-way into the ground in front of the center tunnel before heading into it.

She only travelled a short distance before hitting a dead end. Should she make a stand here where she had room to fight with her full capabilities, or risk heading back out to test another tunnel?

As she headed back to the intersection, a mass of creatures flooded into the chamber. She kicked the spike from the ground, sending it skittering to the left and sent a reaching claw flying with a swing of her blade. She began running into the left tunnel, hoping that she had made the right choice.

* * *

As she ran up the tunnel, she could see lights and hear voices. She felt relief, picking up her pace. She called out, warning the group ahead that there were monsters in pursuit. The lights ahead of her stopped, and the sounds confused discussion echoed down the tunnel.

Maya ran into a group of cadets who she did not recognize.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Senior Cadet Ebenhoch," replied one of the cadets urgently. "There are monsters behind us as well!"

The tunnel was too narrow for her to fight effectively, and she did not want to be attacked from both sides at once.

"Is there a larger space in the direction you came from?"

Ebenhoch nodded, and Maya immediately began to move them back up the tunnel. They were a full five member vanguard. She moved to the front, and told Ebenhoch to mind the rear.

They emerged into a chamber with two exits.

"Which side are they coming from?" asked Maya.

Ebenhoch indicated the right-hand tunnel. Maya told Ebenhoch and the other swordsman to watch the tunnel. She told their scout to stay by the healer and support whoever needed assistance in the coming fight. She handed her gilded lantern to the healer, and stood in front of the tunnel they emerged from with her longsword held in both hands.