A Wrong Turn

For the rest of the day, they moved through the subterranean environment navigating to two additional anchor sites. Occasionally, they saw and greeted other vanguards, but the encounters were infrequent. Cecilia checked her pocket watch obsessively, since she had no indication of the passage of time as they went from place to place.

Cecilia called for a stop when she determined it was the end of the day. As they settled in to set up camp, Cecilia began to pull tinned rations out of her pack. Nadja gaped at her in astonishment.

"Why did you bring those?" she exclaimed. "Don't you know how heavy they are?"

"They're not heavy to me," Cecilia replied. "I think you'll appreciate these over the dried food as well."

Nadja was unable to come up with a proper rebuttal, and fell silent as she began setting up their camp.

The group busily followed Cecilia's directions as she placed a metal bucket on a grate over the campfire that Nadja started. Petra was directed to open two tins each of shredded beef, diced potatoes, and carrots, while Nadja was instructed to dice an onion.

"I learned this from Hilde and Bettina," Cecilia stated proudly.

She opened a can of tomato paste; poured some oil into the bucket, then began to cook Nadja's diced onion. After a couple of minutes, she added half the can of tomato paste into the bucket along with some sweet paprika. She fried the ingredients gently for about a minute. The campfire was enveloped in a fragrant scent that made everyone's mouths water.

"Four cups of water, and some bouillon cubes," Cecilia recited as she added the ingredients and stirred the contents into a smooth reddish-brown broth.

She poured in the entire contents of the tinned beef, and asked Petra to drain the potatoes and carrots as she broke up the larger chunks of beef into smaller with a spoon. After adding in the canned potatoes and carrots she added some bay leaves, crushed caraway seeds, a pinch of black pepper, and a pinch of salt.

"We'll just let it simmer for about 15 minutes and we'll be ready to eat," she said. 

They ate the stew with thick slices of bread. They enjoyed some tea afterwards, then settled down for bed. The 'night' passed uneventfully, and the party continued on to their next anchor site. Upon completion of setting the anchor, they were given the next location, which required an ascent back up to the third sub-level.

* * *

The 'expedition' was tiresome. Moving up and down and up and down through the dungeon was pointless. She was tired, cold, and stiff from having to sleep on the cavern ground. It was lucky that Lady Cecilia had the sense to bring canned provisions, or the experience would have been even worse.

This whole exercise of driving the anchors in the dungeon brought chills to Macy's spine when she stopped to think about it. This was how the Dominion captured the bubble universes of Donjon wizards and shackled their powers. It was as insidious as the koshay box that imprisoned her core.

She did not understand why Lady Cecilia insisted upon taking the slower routes on their way back up other than to impose her tyrannical will upon her followers. The whole situation made her miserable. She wanted to return to the luxury of the upper levels. To return to their suites in the Lost Grotto.

When they arrived back to the third sub-level and reached the anchor site, the other Eisenfelde vanguard was stationed there. They had switched from the adventuring gear of the previous day to their more practical uniforms. Macy had briefly met the hero-cadet, Ruprecht at the reception for the chancellor's son. He was quite pleasant until he found out Macy was attached to Lady Cecilia's faction. 

She did not trust him, and looked with suspicion as he spoke with one of his subordinates as Lady Cecilia and Petra drove their anchor into the wall. Ruprecht stamped Lady Cecilia's form and handed it back with an insufferable smirk, as his minion proffered a sheet directing them to their subsequent anchor site.

* * *

"This doesn't look right," stated Nadja. "Nothing after this point is located on the main map."

"Do you think the map might be outdated?" Cecilia asked.

Nadja shrugged. "It's actually not that far away. We can either go and take a look, or go back and ask the proctors about the discrepancy."

Cecilia mulled the matter over. If they went back, Ruprecht would undoubtedly note in his evaluation that they had problems understanding their instructions. Since the site was not far away, they could reconnoiter and return for clarification if the situation was unclear.

 "Okay, let's do that," Cecilia agreed.

The party moved toward their objective and arrived at the place where the official map ended. The concrete bay was of recent construction. A thick metal door sat opened at the center of the wall and lead to what appeared to be a maintenance tunnel.

Cecilia and Nadja walked over to examine the door.

"I think this looks like part of the resort..." Cecilia said hesitantly. "Would it really be used as part of the exercises?"

Nadja sniffed the air. "It stinks. It might connect to the sewers."

A cry for help came from the depths of the corridor. Cecilia and Nadja looked at each other to confirm what they had heard.

Dropping her pack by the door, Cecilia called to the rest of the group.

"Someone is in trouble. we're going to go and help."

"It's a trap," said Macy. "I'm sure that Ruprecht is luring us inside so he can shut the door behind us. He wants to entomb us! To cast us into the abyss to rot!"

"Regardless, someone is calling for help. It is our duty to respond," replied Cecilia. 

"It's just a ruse. We shouldn't let him trick us to go inside!"

Cecilia considered the situation. She addressed Nadja. "I don't really want to split up our forces, but will you stay here with Macy? Petra and I will go to investigate."