Chapter 91: Light in Darkness

Rook ignored them and examined the cavern.

His attention followed the arrangement of the streets toward a damaged central tower. Most of the upper structure had collapsed long ago, leaving the lower half surrounded by scaffolding. Pale light escaped through cracks in its stone and spread across the settlement.

A weathered emblem had been carved above the tower’s entrance. Obvious for all to see.

Most of the number had been broken away, though enough remained for Rook to recognize it.

"This is the Seventy-Second." He said.

The Manager looked toward him. "Good eye."

Frederick followed Rook’s gaze. "The Seventy-Second Bastion was lost. Every documentation we have on it says it was torn apart by a ninth stage. And I’m pretty damn sure it wasn’t underground."

"We don’t know much about why it appeared here," the Manager replied.

"How long have you known this was here?" Fredrick asked.

"Follow me. I’ll explain what I can."

She led them down a wide stone path toward the settlement.

The residents continued watching as the group passed. Some recognized the numbered bands worn by Frederick and Vanessa. Their reaction brought no relief. Several people moved farther away, and one Reaper closed the entrance to a workshop before the expedition reached it.

Mara stayed near Rook. "Why are they looking at us like that?"

"They’ve been trapped long enough to distrust anyone who arrives without an explanation." The manager said.

"We came with their Manager." The tonfa wielder said.

"They don’t know whether we brought something with us." She replied.

Mara looked back toward the tunnel.

Nothing had emerged from it, that did little to ease her tension.

The settlement grew more crowded near its center. Mara counted dozens of Reapers and far more ordinary souls. Some wore the colors of the Forty-Second, while others carried symbols belonging to Bastions she did not recognize. A few possessed no insignia at all.

Supplies appeared dangerously limited.

Weapons passed through the workshops for repair rather than replacement. Reapers unwrapped grave-rope, cut away damaged sections and spliced the remaining lengths together. Several people divided a pouch of repelling powder into portions so small that none would cover more than a doorway.

A wooden crate held three thunder charges. Two were cracked almost too unstable to use.

Rook watched a Reaper carefully scrape corrosion from one of the metal casings. "Feels like you’re under siege."

The Manager continued walking. "Good eye."

"You said that already."

"You keep noticing unfortunate things."

They reached the largest surviving building near the ruined Beacon tower. Its lower floor had once served as the administrative center of the Bastion, though little evidence of that purpose remained. No registration counters divided the chamber. The record cabinets had been removed, and the walls where official notices might have hung now supported racks of weapons and coils of repaired rope.

Reapers carried supplies between the rooms. One group counted arrows upon a long table, while another filled small cloth packets with the last of the repelling powder.

The Manager led Frederick’s expedition into a rear office.

The room contained a large stone desk, several mismatched chairs and a map of the underground passages fixed against one wall. Deep scratches crossed many of the marked routes. Other tunnels had been covered entirely with black ink.

Everyone found a place around the room. The anchor wielder remained standing because her weapon occupied too much space beside the chairs.

The Manager sat behind the desk and leaned back. Exhaustion settled across her face now that the immediate danger had passed.

"They need to stop sending Reapers after me," she said. "Every search party creates another group I have to keep alive."

Frederick placed both hands against the desk. "You disappeared without reporting. Elara sent patrols because no one knew whether you were alive."

"I attempted to send three people back."

"None reached the Forty-Second."

"I know."

Rook stood beside Mara rather than taking a chair. "What’s going on?"

The Manager looked around the room. "We’re being hunted. Everyone inside this Bastion is trapped here."

Rook glanced toward the passage they had entered through. "The Forty-Second is close. One or two hours at a full sprint once you reach the Hollow Road. You could make that distance easily."

"Under normal circumstances."

"You can walk through stone. Take a tunnel the creature doesn’t know and emerge beyond it."

"We tried that."

The Manager raised one hand toward the map. Several routes had been drawn from the Seventy-Second toward the surface. Every one ended beneath a heavy black mark.

"It found each exit before we reached it. Sometimes it waited outside. Other times it entered the tunnel ahead of us and drove the group back. It has never allowed more than a handful of people to move toward the Forty-Second."

Rook thought of the enormous black shape filling the passage behind them. "That thing?"

"Yes."

Mara leaned forward. "What is it?"

The Manager studied her. "I haven’t seen you inside the Forty-Second before."

"New Reaper," Rook said. "Don’t mind her."

Mara looked at him. "I’m sitting beside you."

"I know."

The Manager rubbed her forehead. "I can’t confirm the classification without seeing its full abilities. Based on its intelligence, weight and the effect its presence has upon lower Abominations, I believe it belongs to the Seventh Rank."

Mara turned slowly toward Rook. "We jumped from the Fourth Rank to the Seventh?"

"It never feels good."

"That’s three entire Ranks."

"The Underworld doesn’t care about gradual progression."

Frederick looked toward the map. "If it is a Seventh Rank, why are any of us alive?"

"That is the problem," the Manager replied. "It hasn’t been killing people."

Mara remembered the creature taking one step whenever the group retreated. Its body possessed enough strength to break through the stone barrier within seconds, yet it never charged while they stood trapped against the wall.

"It looked ready to eat us."

"It was waiting for me."

The room became quiet.

The Manager pointed toward one of the passages shown on the map. "The wall your Reaper was about to break covers an old entrance to the Seventy-Second. The creature has driven several groups toward that section. It follows from behind, reveals itself near the wall and gives them nowhere else to go."

Rook looked toward the anchor wielder. "And then someone breaks the entrance."

"Or I pull them through first," the Manager said. "The creature knows I monitor those tunnels. It has repeated the same pattern enough times that I can no longer pretend it’s accidental."

Mara frowned. "You’re saying it wanted us inside?"

"Yes."

"Then why did it growl and break through the first wall?"

"To keep you moving. Every time a group slows down or tries to turn back, it becomes aggressive. Once they enter the lower passages, it stops."

Rook thought back through their route. The beast had followed them without attacking. It avoided the caltrops and waited until they reached a blocked passage before revealing itself. Even when the group became trapped, it matched their retreat one step at a time instead of closing the distance.

"It was herding us," he said.

The Manager nodded. "It has been funneling Reapers and wandering souls into these caves for weeks."

Vanessa looked toward the closed office door. "How many people did it bring here?"

"More than half of those outside."

"And none of them were attacked?"

"Several were injured while escaping other Abominations. Some panicked and hurt themselves in the tunnels. The Seventh Rank has yet to feed upon anyone we know it chased."

Frederick’s expression darkened. "Why?"

"We don’t know."

"Has it attempted to enter the Bastion?"

"No."

"Then what is it waiting for?"

The Manager looked toward the weak light passing through the office window. "That question is why we haven’t tried forcing our way out. It gathered us here for a reason. If we move before understanding that reason, we may give it whatever it wants."

Rook’s attention shifted toward the damaged tower at the center of the cavern. Pale light continued leaking through its fractured stone, spreading across a Bastion that official records described as lost.

The supplies were nearly exhausted. The people distrusted every new arrival. A Seventh Rank controlled the tunnels leading out, yet made no effort to enter or kill the souls it had gathered.

Something else bothered him.

He looked at the Manager. "Tell me about this Bastion."

"What do you want to know?"

"The Seventy-Second was abandoned because its Beacon failed."

"That is what the records say."

Rook nodded toward the light beyond the window. "Then how did you turn it back on?"