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The Fortress Part II

Karkas had handled children before. He was once running an errand in helping children got out of a burning building with others for food and lodgings lasting at least three days. It wasn't much, but at least he had the experience to do so.

Saving them was one thing. Escorting them, however, was another. Children under 15 were basically rowdy and very much a rebel, as they did not want to hear their elders and thinking that they were adults. It was nothing new, but it was annoying, especially to Karkas.

They only listened to the female human who was their caretaker. She helped them get out through the wall, given that their orphanage was on the side of the wall. Akandi helped with the passage, all the while trying not to alert anyone. Karkas tried to find a reason to do this, but he could not find one. He assumed that these children were in trouble.

His assumption was correct.

Even if they were careful, there was bound to be people who would look in out of curiosity. These people were always the one who unintentionally became the snitch of the operation, as they were not one of the defining factors of the problem.

This time, however, it was a guard, who noticed the children were missing and alerted the whole town. Unistad went full alert, with guards trying to get into the orphanage, only to be blocked by Akandi's force field.

One of the guards pointed his gun towards Karkas, who was reeling one down the wall. He did not account to the fact that a croc's back was practically bulletproof. His low-quality bullet harmlessly bounced from Karkas's scales, and this took the croc's attention. With a jerk of the rope, he pulled the guard down from the top, making him fall to his death.

"Their reaction seems so unnatural," said Karkas while helping one of the children down. "Something important?"

"Unistad is one of the hubs for child smuggling," said Akandi. "Arle here is an informant, and she called me for help."

"I knew there's something wrong when I saw some of the kids started missing, 'adopted', as the street words said," said the caretaker. "I can't let this go, and Akandi here is someone who I can get help with, being one of the Collectives."

"So we want to smuggle them out, but we can't risk getting the whole town into us, until you come by the front door asking for help with finding a Fa'ar."

"I guess I'm a convenient outsider, huh?" said Karkas. "Nothing's wrong with that, until you double-cross me. If that happens, I won't forget them and I'll hunt them to the end if I must. All debts are due."

"You really hate traitors, aren't you?"

"Not always. Sometimes it's for the greater good, but most of the times, it's for personal gain. I'm one heck of a selfish guy, and I don't like it if people starts thinking that I'm that gullible."

"Noted."

After the last child was rescued, Akandi told Karkas to go behind him. The croc complied, and the hairless feline muttered some words of magic. All of the sudden, a chill came by that area, engulfing it and started to freeze the air. It formed ice walls that blocked the exit they made, effectively delaying the pursuers.

"Until the desert heat melts that, I guess we get away from here. Is the vehicle ready, Arle?"

"Right this way."

As Akandi and Arle walked towards a lone carriage by a ruined building, Karkas noticed Narati running towards them. He stopped by the croc and looked around. He noticed the children, and then he said, "So, everything's good on your end?"

"How about you?"

"Everyone's out and ready. Some are going to Creolean Waters, some are going west and south. Not much are going to Diamondback's Nest, however, except young couples or a young family with babies."

"Not surprising, given how Diamondback's Nest's practically a growing village," said Karkas. "As for me, things have been going so well."

"Nice," said Karkas. He put away his spear and said, "Now onto our main job. Get Asran."

"It's about fucking time," said Karkas with a smile.

"Wait."

Akandi approached the two while the looked towards him. The carriage had left the scene, with the children and Arle with them.

"I want to thank you...for helping me with this, but...I don't suppose you two are going straight to that fortress, do you?"

"That's what we're here in the first place," said Narati. "And I suppose you're coming with me?"

"I am still not done with you yet," said Akandi. He then pulled out his robe from his bag and wore it over his clothes. "You did your part. Now it's my part."

The hairless feline then pulled out a roll of paper, and a handful of black sand. He sprinkled it on the unfurled paper, then made hand gestures while muttering words. To the astonishment of Karkas and Narati, the paper started to draw the map of the area, which was somehow made from the black sand he sprinkled before. They were quite accurate, down to Unistad's position and even Creolean Waters.

"Using the knowledge I gathered from topographical maps, I can pinpoint the position Derrick was talking about." Akandi then moved his finger on a point west of Unistad. "Vanadian Outlook is here. The position Derrick was talking about was some distance south, and in the middle of some ruins."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Vanadian Outlook, Unistad, Beautiful Land, and Creolean Waters are the four bigger settlements around this area. Beautiful Land is up north, by the danger zone. Unistad is here, and I guess you two know about Creolean Waters already. From the look of it, you are not from around here."

"You can say that," said Narati. "But we don't have time to explain everything. How long can we go to Asran's fortress?"

"Vanadian Outlook is half an hour by carriage. From there, we need to go south to the ruins. I have a small carriage waiting for me near the ghetto. Follow me."

While they follow Akandi, Narati sighed and said, "In times like these, I really wish we have the house carriage."

"For that, I agree, if it isn't cramped."

"How about you? Now you get your hands on that Fa'ar, what are you going to do next?"

"Next, huh? Haven't thought about that. My life changed ever since he left me to death that day. Life full of vengeance. Blinded by it. I really hated myself. But I'll think about it after Asran, alright?"

"If you need something, just let me know."

"Yeah, as if you can do anything except making bombs and tinkering stuffs."

Narati laughed. "I'll manage," he said. "We're friends, right?"

"Heh. Yeah."

They both then made a fist bump with each other, smiling as they walked to where Akandi was.

***

Having to ride in a carriage made life better in many ways, especially when they were all beast races (with one Chaos race in tow). Being part animal, they could not wear humanoid shoes and could only wrap their feet with 'paw-straps' or 'paw-sleeves', which was not very accurate given not all beast races had paws. Due to this, they were walking bare feet, and it hurt them with the scorching heat. But not every beast race had this problem. Those with hooves, like minotaurs, fauns, and satyrs, had no problem with this.

Along the way to Vanadian Outlook, they all acquainted themselves to each other. Narati and Karkas revealed themselves to be Wanderers, a quite famous mercenary group that were the talks of so many people around that area for their involvement in the Agent-Collective war, dubbed 'War for the Future' due to its scale and its damage to the ruins around Creolean Waters, which made the place flourish after a year due to salvaged technologies being used in tandem with magic (many mages and mercenaries who participated in the fight decided to stay in Creolean Waters to help repairs).

Akandi was very astonished by it, and wanted to know more about them. Narati, happy to know that their efforts were not a forgettable one, looked towards Karkas and smiled, to which the croc smiled back.

"But seriously, you two are one of the early members?" asked Akandi.

"Not me," said Karkas. "But Nara here is."

"Narati?" said Akandi, surprised. "I've heard a lot of mercenary groups being led by Chaos races, but they rarely become a thing. Your efforts are quite...unique."

"Most people don't appreciate my kind of group," said Narati. "But yeah...most of the time things work pretty well for us. I mean, for a Chaos race like me, jobs won't come through that easily. That's why we decided that it's a cooperation. Technically, the Wanderers is not my brain-child. It's...a friend's."

"I hope I can meet him or her."

"I'm afraid you can't. He's already gone."

"Oh! I'm so sorry."

"That's okay. I know it's only one year, but I can't stay in mourning state all the time. Things end, yet what matters is when."

"You read some pre-war books, didn't you?" said Akandi with a smile.

"To be honest with you, I'm not a book person."

"Well, at least you sound smart. By the way, that's Vanadian Outlook."

Vanadian Outlook, like its name, was a settlement sitting by a cliff, overlooking an arid wasteland which was once a pre-war settlement. Age and neglect had taken the toll on the buildings, with most of them buried in sand and only the high-rise buildings were the one left standing. They were also in a broken, abandoned state which could not even be used for living or settle. Unlike the building that the Collective had made their home, this one could not be used as that. It was more like a graveyard than a ruin.

They could not enter the settlement as the place, like Unistad, was not the place for Chaos Races. Unlike Unistad, however, they were not as rude, as people who guarded the gate let Narati stayed by the gate and started a conversation with them. Vanadian Outlook did not hate Chaos races as much as many of the other settlements, but they did not want to take chances.

After getting their directions right, they started travelling down towards the place Derrick mentioned, which was, as he described, a ruin. The fortress he was talking about was also standing in the middle of the ruins, as the only building that people could stay. That, however, was not the case when there were no windows or any indication that, aside from one person, there were other living in that building. What awaited them was a big, gaping door, inviting them to go inside into a dangerous place.

The sight of the door, and the menacing traps and secrets waiting inside, was enough to make Akandi gulped, while Narati felt unease. Only Karkas seemed unfazed by the challenge, though he noticed both of his companions' reluctance.

"You two can still back away from this," said Karkas. "This is my vengeance, not yours."

"What are you talking about?" said Narati. "We will go in and out alive and well. We will. Right, Akandi?"

"Things will be well. My magic can help," said Akandi.

"Then let's get in before things get nasty out here."

The three of them went into the darkness, as the door closed behind them. They could not get out anymore, not until they find their target and deal with it.

As the door closed, the light went out, too, for the only lighting they had was from the sun outside. With the door closed, there was none. They were thrown into darkness.

"Anyone got a torch?" asked Narati. His voice echoed in the darkness.

"Hold on."

Akandi then muttered some words and a light came out from his hand. It grew larger and larger until it became as big as a regular kicking ball. He then 'threw' it up, and now it's floating in the air like balloon, giving them ample lighting and a good measure of their surroundings.

The place seemed to be a vast room devoid of furniture or even contraptions, but there could still be a trap within it that could spring out and trap them. What they were more worried about, though, was the lack of blood smell. Assuming that Derrick's team was killed by the trap, it should be full of rotting flesh and blood. But instead of that, there weren't any.

Fear turned to relief, then relief turned to worry. Asran had a reputation for manipulating people to work for him unintentionally, so could Derrick led them into a trap? But it was impossible given how he was also a victim who they managed to contact. What could be the case?

Their thinking made them unaware that they had reached the end of the room, with wall barely painted, yet clean. Near where they stopped was a lever, with a sign on it saying 'if you want to proceed, pull the lever'.

"Okay. Now he's playing with us," said Narati. "We should just get up there and pass everything."

"We can't do that."

"Well, just blast our way up."

"And then what? Bury ourselves?"

"Narati's right," said Karkas. "No more games. Let's find the stairs and get to him."

Suddenly, the whole place lit, as if alive. They were both confused and aware that they fell into a trap. The gas light around them lit the room and revealed hidden details they did not know, including the pressure plate that Karkas stepped on.

"Fuck!" exclaimed Karkas while pulling his leg. They soon realized that the lever itself was a trap, for as the whole place was lit, it was revealed to be nothing but a wall decoration, with no indication that it had any functions at all.

"Well, there goes our plan," said Narati while pulling out some grenades. "I don't think there's any traps on this floor, and we can't get out from the door before we get him. I suggest we continue up the stairs."

"You are so awfully calm. Usually you'll be the one who freaked out first."

"I try not to, or we won't get out of here." Narati then smiled. "At least I can find the mechanisms first before we get the worst of it, right?"

"I hope so."

"Trust me. I can dismantle things as fast as they go." Narati then walked up the stairs first.

The second floor was similarly dark, but unlike the first, it was just one corridor that opened for them, which ease up things, yet also made things harder. They walked through the place while being aware all the time on things that could jump them.

After they went through the dark corridor and into the light, they found a room that seemed to be devoid of anything, but Narati noticed openings on the wall that indicated a trap.

"Darts," said Narati while walking near the wall, slowly as to not trigger any pressure plates. "It's small, I don't think it will kill us, but it will shoot poison on us if we are not careful."

"Any way to get across?"

"We can, but we need your help, Karkas," said Narati. Karkas understood what he meant and sighed.

"I'll get you across," said Karkas with a sigh. "You're lucky my hide is thing enough to deflect bullets."

That trap was clearly not meant for Karkas, as he ran across without any harm while shielding his companions out of them. The room was full of darts by the time they went across.

What awaited them when they went across, however, was a different thing altogether. If the darts were not as lethal, this would be.

The moment Karkas reached the other room, he accidentally triggered a trap by breaking a tripwire. A hammer came down from the dark ceiling and hit Karkas's head. If he had not strong back ridges, the hammer would cave his skull in. Even then, it was strong enough to cause him to be stunned and grunted while rubbing his head in pain.

Narati and Akandi had no time to be surprised when they saw a panel opened out and shot something to them. Fortunately, they were very nimble, and with that nimbleness, they dodged the thing shot towards them. They retracted back to their holes after that.

Trying to catch their breath, they suddenly realized that they were not standing on a flat surface, and an oil slick poured down an opening over them caused them to slide down a slanted floor while Karkas was still stunned. The croc could not do anything except see his two companions fell into the dark pit as it closed. His reflex was impaired by the hammer hitting the back of his head.

Karkas growled, before roaring in anger and anguish. They barely started and he had lost two of his companions. He felt like an idiot for falling into a trap despite of being the heavy-hitter and the 'tank' of the group. He wanted to destroy the floor underneath him, at least to find his companions, but a familiar voice stopped him short of breaking the floor.

"Hello, everyone who is concerned," said Asran's voice, blaring through the corridor. "I don't know who you are or what you after, but do you really think you can invade my home and think you can find me? I'm not an idiot who opens the door and not prepare first.

"Now, let's play a game. You will go through trials I've created. Contraptions, traps, you name it. Play them right, and you will have my audience. Just to be sure, this message turns on whenever you are alone, and now that you're alone...don't expect any help. Let's start the game."

The light on that corridor turned on, revealing that the corridor, while it seemed to be small, was big enough to fit most race, including crocs. It was as if Asran was toying with whoever went into the fortress to try and exact their revenge. The croc hated to admit it, but, despite of being a trash and a scum, Asran was a sociopathic mechanical genius.

This did not change the fact that it would stop the croc, or even made the croc less angry. He needed to deal with Asran, to end his trickeries and cons, and to find Narati and Akandi, wherever they were.

But first things first, if Asran wanted to play a game, then he would gladly play it, just to prove the Fa'ar that someone like him could've won, and he would.

He just needed to remember how many floors he needed to endure.

***

Narati and Akandi slid into darkness, unable to find their way out from the slippery slide, when they stopped sliding and only falling into the abyss. Akandi was a resourceful mage, and managed to get them out of trouble by using a small wind magic to propel them upward and slow their descent. Narati then pulled out a flare and threw it, determining their distance from the floor. It wasn't a big descent, but it could hurt them if they just stop and try to fall. Well, not for Akandi, since he was a cat, but for Narati, he could hurt something, as he was short.

Fortunately, Akandi had a good control of his wind magic and set them down slowly. Narati took the flare and tried to assess the situation while Akandi drank some mana potion.

"If he's not Karkas's target, I might commend him for creating this big place, just to trap us in," said Narati. "I can sense a breeze of sorts. There might be something..."

There was a roar, which Narati could assume from a lion, judging from its tone and loudness. It was not a feral lion's, but of a lionman's, which for him, was something he could reason with. A beast race could be reasoned with, but a real beast could not.

Of course, that would not be the case when another light turned on, and a voice came out of nowhere.

"Now you're asking, why am I not dead despite of falling down this trap?" said a voice they did not know. "You'd think, 'that's not the case, isn't it?' Well, it's not, and this place is the place where you'll die."

Akandi could hear that the growl was not entirely a normal one, but was also accompanied by chains rattling on the floor. The light that came on only cover an area of sorts, and from the darkness, they could see a beast race, or at least that's what they thought.

At first, it seemed like a lionman who was involved in a fetish party, roleplaying as a slave to an unknown master or mistress from the shadows. He, judging from his build, was wearing nothing except leather straps and an underwear of sorts, both black, with leg straps accommodating his digitigrades. His yellow eyes stared down while he was snarling, yet that wasn't the only thing on his head. In front of his maws, a black leather of sorts covered his mouth, muzzling him, yet was big enough to not prevent talking. It was there to stop him from biting down, for a good reason.

Seeing how he was clothed, one would assume that he came out from one such party, in a bizarre, yet satisfying party. He was also complete with a collar around his neck, and manacles that prevented explicit body movement, but still gave him a freedom of movement. Those chains came off as soon as he came into the light. He was just waiting there, but roared, clearly in pain, from something on him.

Narati then heard him mutter something incomprehensible, clearly not a common language, but then he realized something's wrong. The lionman wasn't trying to attack them, as his restraints implied, but was trying to make gestures for them, telling them that it was dangerous.

"He's a dangerous one, as you can see. Muzzled and restrained, he is a beast that you can take down to get out of this place. Be careful, though. He was muzzled because he is a man-eater. He might be muzzle to even the odds, but that doesn't mean his claws are not sharp enough. Defeat him, and freedom will be yours."

Both of them looked at the restrained beast in front of them and wondered. Would they need to kill him to get out, or would they need to do another way to save the all, as he was clearly a victim, too?