The Foolhardies 136 The Infiltrators

We were even deeper underground now, in the catacombs beneath the Undercroft, running through narrow passageways which were a series of interconnected tunnels that was like one giant maze underneath the city.

Lucky for us that Qwipps and Pike found the map that helped to navigate it fairly easily.

It had been thirty minutes since we'd separated from Thom and his second group of infiltrators. They'd taken a different route than the one we were speeding across.

"You don't think there are alligators down here do you?" Luca asked as he ran beside me.

"This isn't Mudgard, Luca…" I reminded him.

"Still feels like I'm jogging through sewage," he countered. Then he sniffed. "Smells like it too."

I couldn't disagree. The smell was definitely overpowering. Like rotten eggs left to dry out in the sun for days and then thrown into a pile of shit to fester in a dark pit.

We turned left at the corner, our feet taking us right to a dilapidated iron gate that blocked the way to the rest of the passage beyond.

Qwipps was the first to reach it. He placed a finger gingerly over one of the iron bars and quickly pulled his hand away after a spark of pain flashed across his face.

"Muddamit… it's iron alright," Qwipps said, looking over his shoulder to me. "One of you humans should deal with it."

"Luca," I said quickly.

Watching my brother pull out his broadsword from its sheath behind his back and then begin to hack away at the weakening iron bars of the gate, my mind flashed back to the previous night when we were planning our little rescue operation.

It was after Zephyra and I had come to an agreement and she'd been nice enough to explain who exactly we were up against.

"The Under Ring is the largest of the slave cartels in the city. They're well connected with both the city guard and the underground syndicate, and rule with impunity over the slave trade here in the central region," Zephyra explained. "All the big slave trades happening in the Undercroft go through their fortress in the Wailing House."

She pointed a wispy finger at the map that showed the house's schematics.

"Make no mistake, this is a fortress protected by the Under Ring's own private army… it'll be very difficult to infiltrate," she continued.

"But not impossible," I guessed.

She nodded in agreement. "No, not impossible at all."

Zephyra set aside the Wailing House's plans so we could all see the maps of the city's catacombs. She traced a line across the catacombs until her finger was directly underneath our target. Then I pointed to two spots in the map that seemed to lead up to the Wailing House itself.

"These are our way in," I said.

I brought back the schematics of the house and looked over the exact locations, pointing them out to my officers who'd leaned in to take a look.

"Point A is right underneath the cellar," I explained. "Point B leads to a drainage opening by a Cliffside that leads up to the courtyard."

"Two infiltration points means two teams," Luca guessed.

"Three," I corrected. "We'll need a third team above ground to cause a distraction."

"I glanced over at Ashley and patted her shoulder.

"Think you can keep the enemy distracted while we go rescue Ty?" I asked.

She nodded. "My squad and whoever you can spare should be enough."

I spent another few seconds thinking about the composition of the other two teams. But I realized that there was only one other person I could ask to lead the second team.

"Thom, pick six guys from your squad," I said. "You'll take point B and you'll clear us a path leading to it. That's our escape route."

"We're not coming out the way we come in?" Aura asked, already assuming I was going to bring her along.

I shook my head. "In case we're caught while on the mission, better to leave the escape route undetectable."

"So who's in this first team then? Who's in your suicide squad?" Luca asked.

The sound of metal cascading down to the ground sent my mind back to the present, and I was just in time to watch Luca cut through the last of the iron bars.

I glanced back at my chosen team members; the people Luca had dubbed the suicide squad. There was Aura, of course. Never leave home without your fire-starting elven warrior princess I always say. Next were Qwipps and Varda, the latter for her ability to shape stone and the former for his ability to mess with locks. Our group was rounded out by Pike and Enna who would be useful for this particular stealth mission.

"Alright, let's keep going," I said.

We continued on through the maze of passages that led forward until we'd finally reached a square room that I'd marked last night on our map to be right underneath the Wailing House's cellar.

I glanced up at the smooth earthen surface of the ceiling above.

"Varda, you're up," I said.

"Yes, Commander," she said, rubbing her hands together and licking her upper lip with her tongue like she was preparing to do something dangerous. "One giant hole coming right up."

Varda raised her arms upward and began to cast her spell while the rest of us moved to the corners of the room in case she caused a cave-in.

"Wakey, wakey my friend, the earth. It's time to shake, shake and burst," she chanted in a sing-song way. "Awaken to my joyful call and push yourself to break and fall! Rupturing Earth!"

Like a playful melody, Varda's chant reverberated along the walls, causing the ceiling above us to shake and shake and then finally fall.

Earth and stone fell down into the room, kicking up a dust storm that momentarily clouded our field of view. But once the earth had settled, I saw the sizeable hole Varda had made above.

"It's nowhere near that mudslide I made for you before but this should do, right, Commander?" she asked, grinning back at me.

"Well done," I patted her on the shoulder. "How many spells can you still use? Two?"

"You know I've gotten stronger since you last asked me that, Commander," she reminded me. "I've got a total of five… so I've still got four."

"Good, we might need you to use them all tonight," I said while glancing up at the hole. "Qwipp and Pike, go see what's up there and secure us a rope while you're at it."

While Qwipps and Pike went to secure our entry point, I thought about the other teams and what they were doing, sending my mind back to the previous night, back to that moment we were planning stage two of the rescue operation.

"Shanks, I know you said you were a pacifist, but I'd really appreciate it if you joined Ashley's distraction team," I said.

"You just want me for my bod," he said jokingly.

"You probably have something in your merch that can help Ashley's team from getting overwhelmed," I explained. "But yeah, your big body will do too."

Shanks laughed heartily. "I can't swing an ax like Shaqs could but I can punch really hard at stuff... alright, Commander, but it'll cost you."

"Add it to the bill," I said readily.

I pulled out the first map, the one that showed the Undercroft city's streets and pointed to two alleys on opposite sides of the square where the Wailing House was located.

"Set up at these points, Ash," I said. "Use Donar and the other mages to draw the Under Ring's forces into these two alleyways with their magic… if you have ten members of the shield squad in each alleyway then—"

"—A shield wall to keep them at bay while leaving our rear free and clear for our escape," she finished for me. "I get it, Dean. It's not a bad plan."

"You'll have Luca's Ravagers, Talons, Hazy Moon, kobolds, and mages besides your Shield squad," I added. "But don't get cocky. You're not going to war. Just keep them distracted long enough to clear them out for a while."

"What's the signal going to be, Dean?" Ashley asked.

"I believe I can assist you with this," Zephyra answered.

She clapped her hands together and her two sylph children zoomed into the room like mini tornados.

"Zeru and Sora can accompany each of your squads. Once you are ready for your distraction, they will fly back to me and I can let your other team know," she said.

"That means you'll be joining us in this rescue operation?" I asked, uncertainly.

She nodded. "I must protect this new investment. After all, you have promised me and my siblings the freedom of the world above."

After a few seconds of ruminating over it, I figured the extra elemental support wouldn't hurt so I agreed.

"All clear, Dean!" Qwipps yelled, breaking my recollection of the previous night and sending me back to the present.

I looked around me until I found Sora peeking out of the passage we'd come from and called him over.

"Let Zephyra know that they can start immediately," I instructed.

The ghost-like child nodded once, then after a salute, he'd flown back through the passage. No doubt zooming to where the mistress of Nowhere Inn could be found above.

"Feels like child endangerment if you ask me," Luca commented.

"Shut up," I countered, and then elbowed him on the shoulder as I passed him.

Then I reached a hand toward one of the two ropes Qwipps and Pike had sent down to us and glanced over my shoulder at Luca.

"Race you," I grinned.

Chapter end