Elydes-Chapter 303: Strings of Fate

Chapter 303 - Strings of Fate

Kai breathed out the cold air of the underground. Channeling mana to enhance his hearing, a discordant chorus of sobs, rattling chains and pained moans filled the tunnel. At a glance, he counted more than twenty auras in three cells—the dungeon continued past the range of Mana Observer, likely hiding more.

Seeing people alive gave him hope to find Niel, though he wondered just how many had been taken.

“Are they…” Flynn caught up with him, Rain’s unconscious head on his shoulder. He studied the cells in gloomy silence. The same calculations of risk and mercy ran on his face—there would be a price to help the imprisoned.

“We must save them,” Mari whispered. She rested her arm on the rocky wall, weak on her feet. Despite her usual detached attitude, her firm expression looked determined.

“We can’t abandon Niel,” Kea said, moving toward the first cell.

At least she’s being more realistic.

“Wait.” Kai held onto Kea’s arm and lowered his tone. “I want to find him too, but we can’t carry everyone out of here.” It was doubtful if they could even save themselves. “If they see us and start shouting, the guards could swarm us.”

“What do you mean?” Mari turned to him, incredulous. “We can’t leave them here.”

“Lower your voice.” Kai ground his teeth. He couldn’t let emotion cloud his judgment. “I don’t like this either, but it’s our only choice. We can’t sneak out of here with everyone, and we can’t fight an army of cultists. The best shot to save these people is to send for help after we escape.”

“But—”

“He’s right, Mari…” Kea bit her lip, her face scrunched up in reluctance. “We’re wounded and without a clear way out. I want to free everyone, but what good does that do if nobody makes it out?” She gave him a curt nod. “We’ll follow your plan.”

Kai glanced at the cells, wary that their argument had alerted them. Ten seconds later, there was no change in the murmurs and cries. “I’ll check if Niel’s here with Mana Sense. Just give me a few seconds.”

“Is that really possible—”

“Yes. I need to focus.” He gestured for silence and expanded his senses to analyze the glowing auras. Most captives were between the peak of Orange and early-to-mid Yellow. Each person's mana veins possessed tiny differences even at the same grade and profession.

Is he not here? Or am I missing him…

It had been over a month since he had last seen Niel. To complicate matters further, the prisoners’ flows showed varying degrees of impairment and uneven circulation—signs of starvation, blood loss, injuries and clusters of twisted channels Kai couldn’t diagnose.

What did they do to them?

Time was tight. Feeling Kea and Mari’s stares, he identified three individuals who fit Niel’s grade and rough physique. None were a perfect match from his memories, but he had spent a month of imprisonment.

“Have you found him…?” Kea asked with cautious optimism.

“I have to check the cells.” Kai kept his tone terse to not give her false hope. “Stay back.”

Before they could question him, he cloaked himself in a veil of Shadow and crept toward the metal door on his right. The smell hit him first, a mix of blood, sweat and human waste. From the sharp angles of the stone cell, it had been carved into the cavern wall with magic. Behind the enchanted bars, seven shadows huddled in the darkness, a grimy bucket abandoned in the corner.

The only light came from a crystal in a chamber they crossed twenty meters back. Kai might have thought the people dead if not for the sluggish mana flow.

He channeled Body Augmentation toward his eyes, spotting the gleam of familiar shackles. Mercifully—if it could be called that—these people hadn’t been chained to the walls.

Could they even stand or run? The shackles are already overkill.

All seven captives had cuts on their chest and abdomen; from the shape and repeated pattern, the wounds had been inflicted with purpose. Slumped on the wall adjacent to the door, a woman groaned weakly. She seemed young, though he couldn’t tell her exact age under the layers of grime and blood. She held a swollen wound on her side, probably infected.

How much longer could she last? How many daughters and sisters had gone missing in Limgrell? Had he met with her family while looking for clues? Did he know her name?

Focus.

His nails dug into his palms till the pain cleared his thoughts. Kai forced his gaze away—he couldn’t carry her out of here, not now. The choice was between saving himself or getting them both killed.

I’ll bring help, I swear.

Even if he had to drag the Republic’s clerks here by their hair, he’d make them listen. He rolled a healing vial beside her leg with Earth Magic so she would find it when she stirred.

That’s the best I can do for now. I must find Niel.

Kai squinted at a man who matched his friend’s height and grade. Crouched in the corner opposite the door, the darkness was too dense to see his face.

C’mon…

His eyes started watering from the amount of mana he channeled. Any further and he risked hurting himself. Frustrated, he took out a light crystal wrapped in a woolen scarf; just the slightest glow to pierce the darkness.

Kai leaned on the bars to see better—none of the prisoners reacted to the new source of light.

It’s not him.

Their builds were similar, but the man had coppery red hair.

Disappointment swelled.

Kai shook his head at Kea and Mari, and moved to the next cell. The people inside had cleaner clothes and fewer wounds—probably kidnapped more recently.

Hmm… where have I seen them?

Their builds and faces reminded him of adventurers he had seen in the Hall of Seekers. He couldn’t remember exactly who or when, too many teams had passed by Limgrell in the last weeks.

The cult really is abducting adventurers.

Confirming his theory did not comfort him. A man resembling Niel lay near the door. He had a missing eye and skin too pale for a native of the isles.

There is one more.

The third cell hosted nine captives, their condition somewhere between the previous two groups. Chains rattled and soft whispers echoed from inside. Peering in, Kai sighed—another miss.

Is Niel dead…?

In grim relief, his senses found three more cells in an adjacent tunnel. He gestured to Kea to follow. Past a corner, the cavernous walls flattened with the telltale signs of spellcraft. The prisoners here had fewer wounds and strange auras, their veins tangled and tainted as if ink had been mixed through the glowing channels.

What are they trying to accomplish?

Compared to the backdrop of murmurs and rattling behind them, only soft breathing was audible here. Humans in tattered clothes sprawled on the icy stone, their faces catatonic and empty.

“What’s wrong with them?” Mari asked. Her footsteps scraped the rock to keep up with him. “Their mana is… weird.”

“Is Niel here?” Kea pressed with a barely contained whisper.

“I’m looking,” Kai replied for both and focused on his task to not let his mind wallow in misery. No one matched Niel in the first and second cells. Guts wrenching, he finally spotted a young man in the last one.

Please, be alive.

He held the veiled crystal in his hand and squinted inside. A man with dirty blond hair and sharp features sat just beyond the door.

Damn it…

For a brief moment he had truly believed they’d find Niel and mend past mistakes. Reality wasn’t so merciful. The cultists might keep more captives in another part of the sprawling tunnels, but he had no way or time to find them.

He’s probably dead.

It was the most logical conclusion.

From his sagging shoulders, Kea guessed the result without needing words. “Are you sure you didn’t miss him? You barely gave them a glance. I could—”

“I didn’t make mistakes. He’s not here.” His tone was gentle but firm. “We must move. Hobbes has found a potential—”

“Uh… Are— are you real?” A slurred whisper sounded behind his back.

Shit!

Kai expanded his Shadow veil to muffle the words and pivoted toward the source of the noise. The young man with Niel’s build stared up at him with a tilted head. A large grin split his face upon meeting his gaze.

“Yes, you! I— I can see you. I’m not crazy.” He giggled, pulling on his matted blond hair. His speech mumbled with frantic speed, though it remained blessedly quiet.

Rotten Luck.

He had let the captives’ apparent stillness lower his guard.

A stream of water wrapped around the man’s mouth to cut off his ramblings. Normally, a person’s aura would hinder magic close to their body, but Kai felt no resistance whatsoever. It was like touching a piece of driftwood.

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Is it an effect of the manacles? Or their tainted mana…?

Pressed for time, he archived the disturbing discovery. Thankfully, the other captives gave no signs of stirring, their expression still vacuous. Only the blond man moved, clawing the water on his face as he struggled to breathe through his nose.

Water and Shadow couldn’t perfectly cover sounds. If the man alerted the guards, Kea and Flynn could suffer a fate worse than death.

Should I kill him?

His thoughts slid down the path with cold pragmatism. By the time anyone noticed the body, they would be long gone. Given the state of the captives, the cultists might not even suspect foul play until they found the bodies of the guards.

What am I thinking?

Detachment turned to disgust. Killing someone out of convenience—there was no justification. He was a victim too.

If I knock him out, it’ll earn us a few minutes headstart.

It would be his first time putting someone unconscious with a spell. He had to cut off the blood supply to the brain just long enough. The spell played in his mind, ready to—

“Urghh,” The blond guy bit on the shackles cuffing his wrists.

Has he lost it…?

Kai frowned. His confusion turned to surprise when the enchanted manacles disrupted his Water spell.

“It… actually worked…” The guy stared at his cuffs with a triumphant grin, water dripping down his chin.

Uh, that was kind of smart… Kai admired his ingenuity as he prepared to send him to dreamland. Kea and Mari had wisely retreated into the shadows of the tunnel to let him handle the situation.

“Wait.” The guy held his open palms up. “I’m Derrell.”

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Nice to meet you, Derrell. Time for a nap.

“Don’t worry, Derrell. You won’t die,” Kai tried to sound reassuring—as much as someone about to cast spells on you could. “It’ll be as if we never met.”

“Wait, wait! I’m not going to scream.” Derrell’s high-pitched urgency lowered to a muffled mumble. “Let me speak. You’re not one of those madmen, right?”

“Yeah.” Kai held the spell at his fingertips—no point denying the obvious. “And I’m also in a hurry. It’s nothing personal. I’m sure you understand—”

“Give me a moment, please.” Derrell scrambled closer to the bars. A manic gleam lit his different-colors irises: one blue, one golden. “I can help you.”

“Sure…” Kai stared at the manacles on Derrell’s hands and feet. “Not to state the obvious, but—”

“I have information,” he whispered, almost too faintly to hear. “I memorized the route where they take us, the number of guards and how often they patrol here.”

Tempting, but not worth much. Hobbes can probably do better… Uh, I meant you can definitely do better, buddy. Now stop eavesdropping.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll find my own way.” Kai aimed the spell with his hand. “It’ll hurt less if you don’t squirm.”

“You’re looking for someone, right?” Derrell pressed his golden eye between the bars of the door. “A family member? A friend, maybe? That's why you’re looking through the cells.”

Nice work, Sherlock.

“Maybe so,” he amended. It changed nothing.

“I might know them. No, I’m sure I do. I was born lucky.” Derrell hit his forehead with a fist and winked. “Tell me what they look like?”

He’s mad… He’ll make up a tale no matter what I say. Still…

Kai bit his cheek. Time was ticking by. It was foolish to entertain a nutcase, but he also couldn’t leave without turning every shell.

“My friend’s twenty with tanned skin, brown hair and a similar build to you.” He purposefully left out the eye color. Green wasn’t common in the Republic, but a desperate man would try to guess anyway.

Derrell drummed his finger on his cheek and smiled widely. “You must mean Nil! Nice fellow. Shared a cup of water last week.” He twirled a finger beside his temples. “A little nuts. But who’s not these days? Am I right?”

“How…” Kai gulped, his throat dry. What were the chances? He would suspect Derrell had used some arcane skill if he weren’t shackled. There weren’t that many captives in absolute numbers, but it was quite a coincidence…

Is it my Luck?

“I told you I’d know your friend.” He smirked.

“Is he… dead?” Kai asked, his voice coming out strangled. Fear wrenched his insides.

“Mhmm… not the last time I saw him.” Derrell jingled his cuffed wrists. “I’ll tell you everything I know if you lend me a hand. You must know how to open these if you have escaped.”

Kai stared at the man’s unhinged grin. Even if Derrell had truly met Niel, that didn’t mean he knew his current whereabouts. “I’ve got a better deal. If I find Niel alive, I’ll come back to free you. I swear it on the Moons.”

The best way to get all the information was to make their goals align.

Derrell’s smile faltered. “Why don’t you—”

“You’ve got one minute to tell me everything,” Kai cut him off. “If my skill tells me you’re lying or speaking half-truths, I'll knock you out. And I won’t be gentle.” Reading the mana flow, he couldn’t always distinguish lies, but he believed Derrell wouldn’t take the chance.

“I’ve not agree—”

“Fifty-eight seconds.” And the best way to deal with a liar was to give them no time to think. If they bargained on an even playing field, Derrell could walk away, but here only one of them was chained now.

The blond man licked his cracked lips. “I—”

"Fifty-six."

“You skipped a number.”

“Fifty-three.”

“Okay.” Derrell raised his hands in surrender. “Holy goddess, you’re a tougher bargain than my grandma. Though she wouldn’t have accepted these thuggish manners. I should introduce you—

“Forty-nine.”

“Hey! I get it, I get it. I last saw Niel two days ago when he was moved. Some of the bloody cultists like to keep their projects close if they think they’re promising. Those people rarely come back.”

“Before you ask. No, I don’t know what they’re trying to do. Every time those jerks take me, I get one glance at their creepy drawings and collection of pointy tools before the pain starts.” Derrell shivered, furiously rubbing his face. “It’s… It’s pretty much black after that… I wake up back in the cell feeling like absolute crap.”

He swallowed before continuing. “Niel was lucky. A dark-haired guy brought him bread twice. And he got picked the least of anyone but me despite being here the longest. Well, that was at least till two days ago…”

“Do you know where he was brought?” Kai pressed. His drumming heart choked his breath.

“I do… are you really planning to go?” Derrell squinted his blue eye. “Anyone with sense would run away and not turn back.”

“Yeah,” Kai smiled coldly. “Anyone with sense also wouldn’t have listened to the ramblings of a madman and just slit his throat.”

“Right… Touché. Glad we’re both mad.” Derrell giggled to himself, quickly mumbling the sequence of tunnels where the cultists had dragged him—it wasn’t very far. “If Niel’s alive, he should be around there. Remember you promised to come back.”

Kai nodded. “I will. I’ve got just a couple more questions.” Some details weren’t adding up. “How’re you the only one awake?”

“Uhh,” Derrell glanced at the captives behind the veil of Shadow. “I’m not. Half of them are faking it. The guards tend to pick the livelier ones here. They won’t make a peep even if you hit them with a bat. ”

“I see… And how did you realize I was here? You sat before the door as if waiting and stared straight at me.”

“I’ve just got good Perception.” Derrell shrugged dismissively. “Staying near the entrance is safer. It means you didn’t have the strength to crawl and hide from where the guards threw you.”

Kai narrowed his eyes. It was a plausible explanation, but it didn’t feel like the whole story. “The deal is for no half-truths. Coming back here might be too much of a hassle after all…” He turned as if to leave.

“Wait.” Derrell clenched his jaw, sulking. “I got Lucky, okay. Always have been since I was a babe.”

Is he talking about Fate? He’s just at the peak of Orange…

“How Lucky, exactly?”

“That’s private information…” Derrell crossed his arms and tilted his head. “Oh, fine. But you better not ditch me. I had 69 Luck the first time I saw my status.”

Kai blinked. Then blinked again.

There is still time to kill him. I shouldn’t take any risks.

“My grandma always said I was special. Well, she would never admit it now, but she still thinks it.” Derrell continued to blabber, unaware. “You know, less than one in a million humans are born with over 50 points. And mine’s quite a bit higher. You’ll definitely manage to escape if we go together.”

Hmm… Guess I’ll have to kill a few more people…

To think he had considered himself Lucky for being born with a couple points of Favor. Kai felt the urge to push his arms through the bars and throttle Derrell till the insufferable guy stopped moving.

Patience. I can do that once we’re out of here.

He couldn’t throw away any advantage; Kea and Flynn counted on him, but later… There would always be time to correct the mistakes of Fate later.

“Wait here and don’t make a sound. I’ll be back.” Kai released the spell he had been holding. A stream of water wrapped around Derrell’s neck, constricting—better to avoid risks.

“No, wait—” His words turned into a gurgle before his eyes rolled back and he flopped to the ground.

And that’s done.

Kai shrunk the veil of Shadow to just himself. He was running low on the slippery motes, though they were abundant in the underground.

I’ll top off my reserves on the way.

Retreating from the cell, his companions flanked him and whispered questions over each other.

“Are you alright?” Flynn furrowed his brow at Derrell. “Do we have to run?”

Kea inched closer. “What happened? Why did it take so long?”

“Did you kill him?” Mari looked at the unmoving body.

“He’ll be fine. I just put him to sleep.” Kai waved away her worries. “I know where Niel has been taken, just a few tunnels deeper in.”

Every other question died on their lips as a hesitant hope climbed onto their faces.

“We can’t dally.” Kai took advantage of their stunned silence to share his plans. “I’ll go alone and rescue Niel if it’s possible. If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, free the guy I knocked out and run.” He passed the keyring for the shackles to Kea. “Hobbes will help you find a way out and alert you if something goes wrong.”

Kea accepted the keys before giving them to Mari. “I’m coming with you too.”

Spirits, I should have known that.

“Now’s not the time to be stubborn.” Kai pleaded with his sister. “There is no point risking everyone when Niel could be dead. Someone must make it out alive if I get captured. And it’ll be easier for me to sneak alone.”

Kea watched him with clear eyes. “I’m not doing this on a whim. Niel’s been my friend for years, I can’t just abandon him. I know how to fight and hide quite well. You can trust me too. You can’t do everything alone.”

“I…” Kai held her gaze, looking for her familiar temper and failing to find it. Perhaps she had a point—four hands were better than two. “Okay, you can come. But you must follow my lead without arguments.”

“That’s a deal. I’ve no intention of dying here.” Kea smiled thinly and looked at the others. “Get ready to leave if we don’t come back.”

Mari held her injured shoulder with a conflicted expression. “Please, be careful.”

“We will.” Kai was ready to leave when he caught Flynn’s gaze.

His friend immediately lowered his head. “I—”

“It’s fine.” He patted his shoulder beside Rain’s head. “You need to take care of him, and someone must lead them out if I’m not here. They wouldn’t know what Hobbes is saying.”

Flynn bit his lip and slowly bobbed his head. “I swear I’ll get them out.”

“I’m counting on you.” He gave him one last squeeze before creeping down the man-made tunnel with Kea. “Stay close. We have no time to waste.”

He repeated Derrell’s instructions in his mind to build a mental map.

Hobbes, can you scout the way?

Set with a destination, they swiftly crossed the maze of tunnels, taking a single detour to avoid a patrol. Kai spread his senses ahead of them, careful to keep his touch light. He knew the turns to take but not their exact distance.

We should be almost…

“Here.” He made a sign at Kea to halt at the intersection of two corridors. A crystal illuminated the space ahead of them uncomfortably bright, leading up to a door marred with dark red splotches.

Seven auras glowed inside. One so feeble he almost missed it, and one that matched Niel’s.