“Scouts report of a Carradorian contingent having entered the city of EIchafen. Their current purposes are unknown though we are able to confirm a small presence on the outskirts of town. The magi have also reported an unusual shifting of ley currents within the region. Will continue observation.”

  - Unknown Sender, Meltonian Intercept, “Daily Monitoring Report”

  Sophie didn’t look back, she didn’t want to. They had left The Last Hunter behind and simply moved on without searching the place. It was a decision that she had proposed and carried out, not that the others were against it. But she didn’t want to step into the threshold of the building. She was unworthy.

  She had left the inn fragile but hopeful. Now, it is dead and gone along with its inhabitants. She hadn’t even managed to protect Riza or even more of the other abducted civilians from the region. Hells, she didn’t even know where they ended up after she had split from the main Inquisitorial convoy back when Lord von Krantz and Sir Taurox had rescued her.

  If Maud, Wilfred, or any others were around as ghosts, she suspected that they would judge her failures most harshly. After all, whenever she thought about the past she was now only filled with ifs and maybes. Knowing her strength now, she wondered if interrupting the Direktor’s ritual would’ve saved more lives. If she hadn’t passed out atop the guard tower, then maybe she could’ve rushed into the ruins and aided in the defense, or better yet, completely shattered the Myndiri crystal there before all this happened.

  All possibilities that sounded heroic in her head, but a far cry from the dismal reality that had been everything back then. Not that we can change anything now, she scoffed to herself as she stole a look down to the ruined city below. Far too late.

  They didn’t even have time to be buried, for the expedition had to reach its goal. She could only hope that they would find it within themselves to forgive this transgression. Sighing, she looked up at the battlements that now loomed over her. The city’s interior wall casting a dark shadow over the path and party to dim whatever already paltry amount of light that made it through the fog. It created an air of unease over the whole town, though, given that the Mist had already overtaken this place, there wasn’t that much more unease left to spread around.

  The rest of the buildings along the path, at least, showed mercifully little signs of destruction. Either the death that was visited upon them had been swift and clean, or the fighting had been concentrated in other areas like The Last Hunter or further ahead. Whatever the case, there was a strange calm that permeated amongst the unrelenting fog. Even if it felt more like the calm before a storm instead of a true respite.

  A distant shrill cry of a horn echoed from the bottom half of the city. The signal that Eva and the others had reached the wall breach and were now preparing to exit the city. A brief moment of quiet content rushed over her, for it also meant that Eva and the others were now safe.

  Unfortunately, judging by the renewed clicking noise from Golden Quarter now drawing closer to the battlements, they weren’t the only ones with an interest in the signal. Stay safe, everyone.

  The group turned their attention momentarily upwards, trying to see if they could pick out any shadows against the dense fog. Only when Sir Taurox and Raylani both refocused their attention back to the advance did Sophie dare to get the group moving again.

  The closer they got to the side gate to the castle, the more unnerved Sophie felt. Given what they had seen of the Golden Quarter, that it was still so quiet here only raised her suspicion that things were likely far worse than they seemed. Based on how tense most of the others were, she guessed that she wasn’t alone in this worry. Only Elaria appeared to be relatively nonchalant about the whole endeavor, the girl’s hands wrapped behind her head like someone just taking a nice stroll through a park. A calming yet equalling concerning attitude, though in all fairness, now that she thought about it, she had rarely ever seen Elaria outright panicked or distressed.

  Sir Taurox let out a grunt that announced their arrival. An almost professionally set up barricade barred their path. Though in between the palisades and spiked pallets, the splinters of the gaps where it had failed still hinted at the end result. The minotaur used his axe to scout, the fearsome weapon gently pushing with the force of a minotaur against the barriers, hoping to trigger any errant traps yet left behind or recently set. After all, despite the preponderance of undead and whatever creature was creating the cacophony behind them, they still had reactive, potentially thinking humanoids yet unaccounted for.

  Thankfully, nothing seemed to trigger. Before anyone could protest, the minotaur stepped through the gap, provoking no reaction from nearby. Searching around for another moment until he was certain, he advanced a few more paces before beckoning the others through.

  Here, like the rest of the city, the scars of battle had yet to be washed away by time. The defense here had at least met with moderate success compared to other defensive zones that they had bypassed. The defenders had evidently had enough breathing room at one point to create makeshift grave markers for the fallen, although most of the sticks and armor pieces had long since rotted or rusted away nearby. Still, it was a sign that they did not fall during the initial onslaught.

  The smattering of half broken arrows around them also spoke of defenders being active on the walls themselves. At least during the initial assault, the castle seemed to have held for a time.

  Before they reached the gatehouse for this pathway however, Sir Taurox abruptly spun around to face Sophie and the party.

  “We don’t know what lies beyond this or the situation at hand. Push to the castle and throne room if we can, if not, we fall back, understand?” The minotaur growled.

  Sophie nodded emphatically.

  “Good. Is everyone else ready?”

  A quiet round of acknowledgements as weapons tensed and shields were readied.

  “On me.” He grunted.

  The minotaur pounded his chest piece before bringing his war axe to bear. Despite his size, he gently tried the gatehouse’s door handle, hoping it would just open. To their and seemingly his own surprise, the reinforced door creaked a little, swinging ever so slightly to the side before two tiny plinks echoed loud enough for all to hear. Without any warning, the door slammed to the ground with a terrific splintered thud as everyone immediately set themselves up into defensive posture, lest any monstrosities took advantage of the moment.

  A second passed by.

  Then two, and three.

  Slowly, time crawled back into motion from the frozen silence. And as their breaths steadied, so did the realization that there was no other noise besides them. After another few moments of detecting no other signs of movement headed towards them, the minotaur lowered his stance and broke formation.

  Cautiously, Sophie joined him, the two now leading the group into the silent gatehouse. Thankfully, unlike the one leading directly to the Golden Quarter, there were no bodies left on display, no messages being sent. Just more signs of a brutal melee that happened within its now blood stained walls.

  The faint scent of mold and dampness held the air hostage. Her nose curled in displeasure as she grimaced from the strange harshness of the scent. Behind her, Mila’s scowl deepened, but beyond that, the inquisitor displayed little other reaction to their current situation.

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  Their footsteps echoed in the stone hallway of the gatehouse, the sound the only thing that she could hear beyond her own heartbeat.

  Then, just as quickly as they had entered this strange world of stone and mold, the minotaur pushed open another doorway.

  As what little light that penetrated the dense fog danced in front of them in prickly little slivers, they found themselves standing before the imposing stone fortress that was Castle Eichafen. In front of them, a still standing statue of some noble lord stared down at them, the once white marble now marred by moss, dried blood, and whatever else the elements had thrown at it. At its feet, a cracked and shattered fountain marked the passing of nobility within the area, though whatever waters within it have since leaked out or turned into some fetid wretched sludge fully embraced by the vileness of the Mistveil.

  A few paths led away from the gatehouse that they had emerged from. Most of them cut paths around the outer perimeter and skirted under the shadow of the walls that surrounded the place. Only two of them seemed to snake through the decayed remnants of a flower garden and led directly towards the castle. The main structure itself was hardly an artistic piece and more reminiscent of the buildings down in the main districts rather than aesthetically pleasing ones like the Golden Quarter. Castle Eichafen was a large squat blocky looking building, its almost overly utilitarian design speaking to the area’s original purpose as a fortress city. Two towers flanked the main keep, though the reason they had been absent from the city’s skyline was now clear. They had both collapsed due to the siege. Though judging by how embedded their top halves were in both the keep and garden were, Sophie guessed that they had been part of the initial victims of the siege. Still, that the main keep held firm, it was a good sign, in its own way. It meant there had been some form of defense and that the keep itself had been protected. Though how compromised its interior was, she did not know.

  With no immediate threats present, there was nothing to hold them back and the group pressed forward, albeit more cautiously than before. They made their way through the decrepit garden, their boots crunching one the dried and dead branches. Whatever flowers or shrubbery they might have been now mattered little in the face of the Mist.

  Sophie winced as her own boot connected with some dried twig, feeling the brief resistance before it snapped and cracked under her weight. She looked around, finding Sophia smirking at her. Almost as if her counterpart was mocking her for her poor attempt at stealth.

  Their approach remained uneventful, though each step forward brought with it the expectation of some hidden monster or undead to simply spring forth. Instead, she found only an increasingly growing sense of wrongness that slowly surrounded her. Her gaze slid towards the castle and it stared back with the same cold unfeeling disinterest that came from old weathered stones. Each moment they traded glances, Sophie got the uneasy feeling that she was slowly being drawn into a cage. One made from the bones of the dead city and the questions that lay within it.

  “Hold up.” Sir Taurox hissed.

  The minotaur’s singular warning brought the party to a sudden halt.

  They now stood in front of the main doors to the keep. Unlike the reinforced doorway of the gatehouse, it seemed to be barred shut. Even when he exerted some force upon it, the double doors remained stubbornly closed. A frustrated grunt escaped from him, the minotaur briefly considering simply hacking the doors open before thinking better of it.

  He made a series of gestures towards Mila, the inquisitor making a few in return. The two then nodded before motioning towards the double doors. There was a pause before they nodded in agreement once more.

  “Search the perimeter, find a way in. Meet back here.” Taurox ordered.

  Sir Himmel grumbled his displeasure at having to split him from his charge once more. But after giving Sophie a glare, the red hawk commander motioned for his men to rally towards Sir Taurox.

  Mila glanced expectantly at her, she rolled her eyes.

  “Let’s go then.” She whispered.

  Separating from the others, The Lily Knights charted a more leftward part around the outside of the keep.

  Here, the few pieces of foliage that survived within the Mistveil had overgrown parts of the walls. Jagged thorns and zig zagging vines crawled their way across the walls, almost as if the very earth itself was trying to pierce through cracks in the thick stone. Some brambles have even survived the devastation that visited the city, the stray pieces of dull green and brownish red offering a strange spit of color against an otherwise drab looking building.

  To their surprise, despite not finding any other entrances along the first floor, they did manage to spot a few fallen iron bars. Following the trail, the windows on the second floor had been shattered and their respective shutters torn out or pried open. While the windows themselves would be too small to fit most of them, it was what was beside those windows that interested the group. Almost camouflaged and hidden by some vines was a small balcony. Its railings had, judging by the bars, fallen out during the siege or for other reasons. No matter the reason, it still marked a potential way in.

  Knowing that their time here would be limited, the group quickly dispersed and headed back towards the castle doors to fetch the others. On their end, Sir Taurox and the red hawks announced with some disappointment that the only other door that they found had been buried by one of the collapsed towers. The discovery of this balcony rejuvenated their morale somewhat. Though the next dilemma they were presented with tempered their emotions soon enough.

  The most obvious point of contention was that there were little to no hand holds on the way up. Only brittle looking vines and whatever was left of the balcony. Then it was the second most noticeable problem facing them. Sir Taurox, being a seven or eight foot tall minotaur, was a being made of dense muscle, wearing heavy armor, and wielding an equally hefty metal axe. While the red hawks with their combined effort could undoubtedly carry him, to do so reliably would be a point of concern. And while Sophie and the others possessed training and strength to a higher than average level, she was also acutely aware that all the knights too, would be challenges to be lifted. All before they had to consider the structural integrity of the balcony that had iron railings ripped out from it.

  A few sighs and grunts were all that was needed to convey their next course of action.

  Their new plan was one that required swiftness and precision. The Lily Knights would ascend onto the balcony and infiltrate the castle, making due speed to unbar the main door. Only when reunited would the investigation commence properly. Or so it was supposed to go.

  Naturally, Sophie volunteered to be the first up. Sir Taurox effortlessly lifted her so that she could simply reach up and grasp at the edge of the balcony. She froze almost instantly when a small scattering of loose stone dust drifted onto her. Aware now that the balcony might be even more damaged than she had originally thought, she slowed her pace and gently pulled herself up.

  She clenched her teeth together as she gingerly placed her full weight onto the platform, half expecting it to just crumble beneath her. To her relief, nothing under her feet seemed to shift or creak, though the balcony did let out a tired groan from the sudden change in weight above it.

  Worried, she slowly shifted herself on the platform until she could get her footing. She then turned around and offered an arm downwards. Sophia was the next, her sister being lifted up before Sophie could grab her arm and bring her up. Sophia growled at her for the helping hand, bristling at the thought of having to rely on Sophie.

  The two of them then felt a slight shudder as Sophia’s full weight was also added to the balcony. To her horror, a small edge piece broke off from the balcony. Their eyes quickly darted around until they landed on a half destroyed doorway.

  “Careful!” Sophie called out as the two of them reached a collective decision to break their way into whatever room the balcony belonged to.

  Before she could come up with a plan, Sophia had already rushed forward to tackle the doorway, her shoulder smashing into the wooden frame and shattering it. Sophie leapt through the opening as more little stones fell from under her. Within the room, she quickly scrambled back to her feet as she brushed off what splinters she could from the door’s remains.

  Outside, a sickening crack followed their exit as the others let out their own little shouts of warning.

  “Move!” Sir Taurox roared.

  “Go! Go!” Mila’s voice followed.

  With a terrific crash, half of the balcony collapsed onto the ground below, taking the majority of vines with it. Stones and loose brick clattered onto the path and scattered the rest of the party.

  “Stars above, the fuck was that?” Sir Himmel let out an uncharacteristic but exasperated complaint from below.

  “Balcony was… was weak.’ Sophia gasped.

  You okay? A voice sparked in her mind.

  Startled, Sophie turned to find Sophia looking at her in concern. Half rattled by the collapse, she mutely nodded. Looking around she saw that they were in some sort of ruined bed. Though one that likely belonged to lesser nobility considering the single bed and only moderately decorated furniture, whatever that hadn’t been rotted away anyways.

  Outside, she still heard the half panicked reorganization that was taking place. Sir Taurox barked a few orders and made sure everyone was alright. Peering down, she caught Mila’s eye, the inquisitor quickly directing her gaze towards where the front door was. The message was clear, get it open.