Chapter 44: The Wrong Turn

Eliza

March 21, 1787, Realm Time, Outworlder Base, Bohemian Protectorate

"We have to save Sam!" Eliza screamed. "He's been taken prisoner."

"Not invited?" Pops asked.

Eliza sighed. He still has trouble following discussions in English.

"They lured them in because he's an idiot thinking himself invincible."

"Sam is strong," Tristan said.

"On the contrary, he's easy to beat."

"Really? How?"

"Have a teammate who's inconspicuous and hit him from the back while he's ranting about duels or whatever stupid shit, duh! He talks so much he'd better be a villain."

"What?"

"You know. Villain monologues?"

"No, I don't know. If the guys who invited him are the same ones responsible for the massacre, he's in trouble," Tristan said. "They have no honor. Eliza, Dorian, we are moving in."

"Why only you three?" Max asked. "I can disable defenses."

"We have to move fast; there will be no time to wait. Plus, we're the most likely to survive. And frankly… I don't want to risk hurting anyone by accident while I use my ultimate."

"He stabbed me by mistake," Eliza said.

"I retract my objection," Max said, taking a step back and making a sweeping gesture toward the entrance, while bowing.

"Aldric, be prepared to collapse the tunnel if we have to stop possible pursuers. Claudia, Pops, be ready to extract us. Now here's the plan. Your tunnels are wide and tall, right? As soon as we're in, I'm charging ahead, filling all the space with our Auras. You finish off everyone who faints, and I take on the others."

"That would be a sight to behold, if not for a small detail," Eliza said. "There are no stairs from the research facility to the main level, only the elevator. Before your heroic charge," she raised her eyes heavenward, we have to sneak unobserved, or they'll collapse the shaft with explosives, and it's back at square one."

"We shall move; we're short on time. Hey, where are you going?" Tristan yelled at Dorian, who was running ahead into the tunnel.

"I want to take some pictures before we go up!" Dorian yelled. "Evidence!"

"Stop, idiot! This is not a novel," Tristan yelled, but for naught.

"Don't you realize we can move way faster than you, through the shadows?" Eliza asked a minute later, when the Irishman entered the base.

"Now I do," the young man panted.

"There's the security office, and there's the lab," Eliza pointed.

"I know where the lab is," Dorian said. "Where's the boss?"

"Your boss, not mine. I just hang around for the money. Tristan's exploring the elevator shaft. Hurry to take the pictures before he returns."

As she could have bet, loud retching sounds filled the corridor as soon as Dorian opened the first door. To his credit, he didn't throw up, took the photos, and then went to the lab.

"Am I becoming evil to feel glad that you killed that woman?" Dorian asked philosophically when he returned two minutes later.

"It's only natural," Eliza said. "I take pleasure in killing baddies all the time. All that fuss about 'Oh, they're human beings who made wrong choices' is just crap."

"I don't think Dorian will be able to go past the elevator," Tristan said, arriving near them all of the sudden.

"What do you mean?" Dorian asked.

"Sure he will. There's a trap door in the cabin's roof," Eliza said.

"What are you talking about?" Dorian repeated his previous question with new words.

"The cabin is at our level. We can squeeze beside it through the shadows; you will have to take the normal way, climbing the service ladder," Eliza said.

"Why don't we just take the elevator?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"To keep the element of surprise," Tristan said. "There are two guards outside the upper door. Awakened, as far as I can tell. Lots of Mana."

"I'll jump out first, keep them busy, then you attack from the rear," Eliza said. "Give me a sec to invest my free points."

"How many levels did you get?" Tristan asked.

"Ten. And I got over the next threshold. I'm level sixty-seven."

"Fifty-eight here. I got only eight levels."

"I also got a weird notification about a Main Quest and a target being eliminated. One out of ten. Any idea what it means?"

"No, but I got it the same. Hurry up with your points."

"On second thought, I'll wait. It says my next evolution will depend on how I invest them."

"Good. Go."

"Let's give Dorian a head start; there's a hundred feet climb. At least."

"Fine. Put this on, please," Tristan said, giving the other man a small parcel.

"What's this?" Eliza asked.

Tristan grinned. "Something I invented myself. Let me tell you, Dorian is the most useful teammate to have around."

The parcel contained a sort of climbing harness, and it took Dorian almost five minutes to put it on, time in which Eliza frowned, puckered, and rolled her eyes, but for naught. Tristan was indifferent to her moods, and Dorian was busy dressing.

"C'mon!" she wailed.

"I'm ready," Dorian said, enclenching the final buckle.

"You intend to use him as a shield?" Eliza asked.

"I always use him as a shield. With this, I can grab Dorian from multiple angles."

"What can I say?" Dorian sighed, rolling to serve. "I live to serve."

"Hurry up," Eliza said, going ahead because she was already bored. She entered the cabin, leaned back to be able to peek up the shaft, then used Clair-Onscure to move over the cabin, then to glide up until she reached the exit. There was a ladder, but she gripped the wall using two nails and the tip of her boot.

Being a Vampire has its advantages…

"I don't detect those two anymore," Tristan said, arriving near her.

"All for the better. Hey, Stop!" Eliza raised her voice at him because the doors left no space to peek through, andTristan was trying to force the doors open with brute strength. "Look and learn."

There was a safety button on the wall, and after she pressed it, the door swung sideways with a hiss. The corridor was indeed empty.

"Maybe they went that way?" Tristan pointed at a staircase. "How many floors does his compound have?"

"The basement, which we left, and the main floor, where we are. It's pretty big."

"And that?"

"That's a shortcut to the portal facility and a spa resort built around a hot spring in the next valley. If there's a party, it's there."

"You think they killed everybody?" Tristan asked, looking around.

Eliza understood on the spot what he was talking about. There was no motion or sound, even for their enhanced senses. Her muscles tensed. She was prepared for the worst but decided to think positively to avoid jinxing their chances.

"I don't know. There aren't many people at the base anyway. A couple of hundred. We should check that party."

"A hand, guys?"

Dorian had arrived, panting. Grabbing him by the lapel, Tristan pulled the Irishman onto the floor. The Irishman's leather jacket was slippery, and Tristan almost dropped him. Dorian managed to catch himself on the door's margins at the last moment, pulling himself onward.

"Are you seeing the notification I'm seeing?" Tristan asked.

"I do," Eliza said.

MAIN QUEST TARGET ELIMINATED (2/10).

"What do you think it means?"

"No idea. Let's crash that party; Sam should be there."

"Dorian, you go first; I'll stay a step behind," Tristan said. "If there's too much incoming damage, I'll grab you."

"Yeah," Dorian sighed.

They proceeded up the stairs, which, after a long ascent, led to a secondary tunnel that turned east. They didn't meet any security personnel or traps of any kind. A mile further, the tunnel split into two branches, one to the left and one to the right.

"Which one?" Dorian asked.

Eliza grabbed her chin, leaning on her left foot. "Hm… I don't remember well… But I hear a lot of voices to the left."

"How high is your Perception?" Tristan asked.

"Fifty-one, now. You should invest in it; it could save lives. Mine, for instance."

"Sorry I stabbed you," Tristan sulked.

For a second, his attitude changed from the terrifying warrior he had become into the boy he was just a few months prior, and Eliza patted his cheek. Showing initiative, Dorian jogged ahead on the left branch, and they hurried to catch up. They went on for longer than before, and the air became heavier and hotter.

"Are they trying to suffocate us?" Tristan asked, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

"I can keep my breath for hours," Eliza said, "but I don't think there's a lack of oxygen. It's just humid and hot."

"Maybe the ventilation broke," Dorian suggested.

For no obvious reason, Eliza felt tired. Sleepy. The voices were closer now, and she signaled the rest to move silently. Tristan grabbed Dorian, raising him up, as the Irishman's steps made the most noise, and they pushed on. There was a turn, and the tunnel's slope began ascending. All of a sudden, an electric torch's light bathed them.

"Stop right there, or I'll shoot!" a man screamed.

[Eliza: I don't feel any significant Mana. They're not Awakened or weak orders.

"You got it wrong, mate," Tristan snorted. "Surrender or die."

The answer was a flurry of bullets and a flash grenade. They hurt Eliza's eyes and ears, and she growled in displeasure.

"Dum dums or shit!" Tristan yelled. "Dorian's dead."

"I'll handle it!" Eliza yelled.

She tried to teleport next to their attackers, but her Clair-Obscure skill malfunctioned.

Insufficient Mana.

The heck? Was that heat a Mana Siphoning spell?

Lacking better options, Eliza ran forward, sneering, showing her fangs, dancing through the bullets. The sound they made as they left the barrel was a good giveaway.

At least they're subsonic.

Then, a noise of metal hitting rock—a dropped weapon—followed by a short suction sound and a woosh, made her duck laterally. The RPG projectile brushed her hair, exploding a second later. At the same moment, she slammed into the shooter, throwing him down. Eliza landed atop him, planting her fangs in his shoulder. He had a leather jacket, which made her task harder, and she had forgotten to take out her dagger.

"Please, I have kids," the man sobbed. "Please…"

The little blood she drew felt rejuvenating, and on a normal day, the man would have been dead in the next few seconds. Behind him, however, the tunnel was ending, and through its opening, Eliza saw the stars and the moon. A strong mixed scent of linden, hay, and orange reached her nostrils. It was intoxicating.

She released her grip, unclenching her jaw. The man shoved her off him, with the strength people get when they're desperate, darting away. Eliza didn't care. Getting on her feet, she wobbled forward, staring at the landscape. Despite the warmth of the air, Eliza shivered. With feverish hands, she checked her phone. The date had changed, showing the twenty-first of June, twenty thirty-five, and the geolocation was Sicily.