The Imperial System: Architect of an Empire

The problem was no longer simply finding another road.

It was finding one that still existed.

Galahad brought the three newly rescued people back to the widened recess where Sera, Milo, the healers, Derren, and Tovin were waiting. The moment the group appeared around the bend, Sera lowered her bow from the passage entrance and began counting faces. Her eyes stopped on the additional wounded, then moved immediately to Galahad.

”No.”

Galahad frowned. ”No what?”

”No more injured people.”

Milo, still sitting against the wall beside Tovin’s litter, slowly raised one hand. ”I support this policy.”

One of the rescued workers had his left arm held tightly against his chest. Another had burns along the side of his neck and jaw. The armored man from the collapse could still walk, but blood had soaked through the wrapping one of his companions had tied around his thigh. None of them needed a litter as badly as Derren or Tovin, but none of them were moving quickly either.

The healer traveling with Kael looked over the newcomers and closed her eyes for half a second.

Galahad noticed. ”How bad?”

”You keep asking me that after bringing me more patients.”

”That is because you keep being the person who knows.”

She pointed toward the man with the broken arm. ”He walks. The burn walks if someone watches him. The leg wound gets wrapped before we move another step.”

The injured fighter opened his mouth.

She pointed at him.

”Sit.”

He sat.

Milo nodded approvingly. ”You learn quickly.”

The man looked at him.

Milo leaned his head back against the stone. ”I did not.”

Kael stopped near Derren’s litter and looked around the cramped recess. They had entered the lower works with one recovered survivor and an expedition built for mobility. Now the group had become something closer to a moving field hospital.

Derren lay on the first litter, pale but conscious. Tovin remained on the second, still unable to wake for more than moments at a time. Three more wounded people needed support. Two healers had to move between all of them. Milo’s mana was nearly exhausted. Darius had accumulated injuries from the brood guard, the Ash-King, and the strain of holding collapsing stone. Kael’s shoulder and back were worsening with every hour.

And the Caldera continued to move beneath them.

The System appeared.

[Mission Condition Update]

Mobile injured requiring support: 5

Critical transport cases: 2

Available dedicated healers: 2

Party combat readiness: reduced

Environmental hazard trend: worsening

Primary eastern route: obstructed

Recommended action: identify alternate extraction route before additional engagement

Kael almost wanted to laugh.

”Helpful,” he muttered.

Milo turned his head.

”What?”

”Nothing.”

”You have been saying ’nothing’ to yourself more frequently.”

Kael looked toward him. ”You talk to yourself constantly.”

”I am excellent company.”

Sera snorted.

Galahad crouched beside the rescued fighter while the healer cut away the blood-soaked wrapping around his thigh. ”You said other people knew you were trapped.”

The man’s expression tightened.

Galahad continued, ”Who?”

The fighter looked toward the Iron Vanguard guide.

The guide looked away.

That told Galahad enough to continue.

”I am not asking you to accuse anyone. I am asking who passed through.”

”Two crews.”

”Workers?”

”One.”

”The other?”

The man hesitated.

The healer tightened a fresh bandage around his leg.

He flinched.

She said, ”Answer before I pull harder.”

The man stared at her.

Milo whispered, ”Effective interrogation.”

Sera elbowed him.

The fighter exhaled. ”Armed group. Five people.”

”Same insignia as you?”

He looked down at the iron mark fixed to his chest.

”Yes.”

Galahad’s face did not change. ”Why did they leave you?”

”They said the ceiling was too unstable.”

”That part was true.”

”Yes.”

”Then why are you angry?”

The man looked toward the route behind them.

”Because they had rope.”

Silence followed.

Kael understood immediately.

The rescue had been dangerous. Galahad’s group had risked a secondary collapse to widen the opening, and Kael had needed the System to help keep the ceiling from coming down on everyone. But if another group had possessed rope, they might have attempted a different extraction from farther back.

Maybe.

Not certainly.

The man continued before Galahad asked.

”They didn’t even check.”

That was different.

Galahad sat back on his heels.

”Who gave the order to leave?”

The fighter shook his head.

”I don’t know his name.”

”You work together.”

”Not everyone here works together.”

That was the first time someone from beneath the Caldera had said it plainly.

Galahad looked at the Iron Vanguard guide.

The guide’s expression hardened. ”He is right.”

Milo shifted against the wall. ”Progress. We have discovered organizational dysfunction.”

Galahad ignored him. ”Explain.”

The guide glanced toward the rescued fighter. ”Different crews answer to different field leaders.”

”Still one organization?”

”Yes.”

”Same rules?”

”Mostly.”

”Mostly is doing a lot of work.”

The guide’s mouth tightened.

Kael watched the exchange carefully.

The Iron Vanguard was no longer a single blank wall in front of them. They were seeing divisions.

People who fought drakes beside them.

People who helped stabilize machinery.

People who refused to answer questions.

People who abandoned trapped members.

That did not make the organization innocent.

It made it real.

Galahad stood.

”We can untangle your structure after we are out.”

The guide gave him a strange look. ”You think you’re getting out?”

Milo slowly raised his head.

”That was an unfortunate choice of words.”

The guide rubbed one hand across his face. ”That is not what I meant.”

”It is exactly what you said.”

”I mean the roads are failing.”

Galahad looked toward Kael. ”How badly?”

Kael focused on the System.

[Environmental Scan]

Current route network: incomplete

Known eastward path: blocked at recent collapse

Airflow analysis suggests alternate connection northeast

Distance: unresolved

Subsurface heat concentration: lower than southwest routes

Kael looked toward Iris.

”There may be another connection northeast.”

The Iron Vanguard guide immediately shook his head.

”No.”

Iris turned.

”You know one?”

”I know where that direction goes.”

Galahad’s attention sharpened. ”Where?”

The guide looked uncomfortable.

”Old drainage galleries.”

”Passable?”

”Not supposed to be.”

Milo groaned.

”No.”

Everyone looked toward him.

”We retired that phrase.”

The rescued fighter with the leg wound actually laughed once, then regretted it when the healer pulled the wrapping tight.

The guide ignored Milo. ”Those galleries were abandoned because sections flooded during the wet season.”

Kael looked around at the dry volcanic stone.

”Is it wet season?”

”No.”

”Then why not use them?”

”Because the channels also carry heat runoff when the lower vents rise.”

That was a better reason.

Kael checked the System again.

[Northeast airflow source]

Humidity: elevated

Thermal activity: moderate

Current flow direction: outward

Interesting.

”Air is coming from there,” Kael said. ”And it is cooler than the passages southwest of us.”

Iris was already moving.

Galahad looked toward her. ”Only inspect the entrance.”

She nodded.

The Iron Vanguard guide stepped after her.

Galahad stopped him.

”Let her.”

The man frowned. ”She doesn’t know the galleries.”

”That is why she is looking.”

Iris disappeared around the next bend.

The healers worked while they waited.

Milo did not joke for several minutes. He watched Tovin instead.

Kael noticed.

Tovin had not improved.

His breaths remained shallow. Occasionally his fingers moved against the blue cloth tied around his wrist, but his eyes stayed closed.

Kael sat beside Milo.

”You knew him?”

Milo looked toward Tovin. ”No.”

”You are staring.”

”I am thinking.”

”That is dangerous.”

Milo turned slowly.

Kael smiled.

Milo looked genuinely pleased. ”You are learning.”

Kael glanced toward Tovin again.

Milo’s expression became quieter. ”He made it this far.”

”Yes.”

”Whatever happened to him, he made it this far.”

Kael nodded.

Milo looked toward Derren.

”And Derren made it far enough for someone to find him.”

”Yes.”

”Rellan didn’t.”

Kael said nothing.

Milo exhaled.

”I don’t like missions where effort and survival stop being the same thing.”

Kael understood that.

A person could do everything correctly and still die.

Another could make a terrible decision and survive because somebody happened to arrive in time.

Rank did not care about fairness.

Neither did the Caldera.

The Iron Vanguard guide overheard enough to look toward them.

”You think this is bad?”

Milo turned.

”I am almost certain you are about to make that sentence worse.”

The guide pointed downward.

”You have not reached the deepest routes.”

Milo closed his eyes.

”Thank you.”

Kael watched the man. ”What is deeper?”

The guide realized he had opened the door himself.

He hesitated.

Then shrugged.

”More heat. More drakes. Old workings.”

No names.

No grand reveal.

Just more of what they already knew existed.

Kael accepted it.

Iris returned eleven minutes later.

Her clothes were damp around the boots.

That got everyone’s attention.

Galahad stood. ”Well?”

”Passage exists.”

The Iron Vanguard guide stared. ”How far?”

”Far enough to split.”

”Water?”

”Ankle-deep in the first gallery. Knee-deep farther in.”

The guide cursed.

Milo frowned. ”Water sounds pleasant.”

Iris looked at him.

”It is warm.”

”Less pleasant.”

She continued. ”Current is moving east.”

Galahad looked toward Kael.

Kael focused.

[Hydrological / Thermal Scan]

Flow direction: east-northeast

Temperature: elevated but survivable

Gas hazard reduced by active airflow

Structural condition: unknown beyond scan range

That was promising.

”Water is moving east,” Kael said. ”Air too.”

The guide shook his head. ”It could empty into a lower sink.”

Iris nodded. ”Could.”

Galahad asked, ”Could it also connect to the outer drainage system?”

The guide hesitated.

”Yes.”

There.

Not safe.

Possible.

Galahad looked toward the wounded.

Then toward the blocked eastern route behind them.

”We use the galleries.”

The guide frowned. ”You are making that decision from one scout trip.”

”I am making it because the road we came for no longer exists.”

”That water could rise.”

Galahad looked toward Kael.

Kael answered honestly. ”It could.”

Milo stared at him.

”I liked you better when you lied by omission.”

Kael continued, ”But the airflow is good, heat is lower, and the current moves east. The known route is blocked.”

Galahad nodded.

”Then we move before the answer changes.”

Nobody argued.

The healers finished wrapping the three rescued people. The man with the broken arm was given a sling. The burn victim received wet cloth around the worst area and instructions not to touch it. The wounded Iron Vanguard fighter was told to keep weight off his injured leg as much as possible, which led to the immediate practical question of who would help him walk.

Milo looked away.

The healer pointed at him.

”No.”

Milo looked back. ”No what?”

”You are not helping him.”

”I was not volunteering.”

”You were considering it.”

”I am offended by your accuracy.”

She pointed toward a broad-shouldered worker from the lower camp.

”You.”

The worker sighed and moved beside the fighter.

Milo looked at Kael.

”I survived.”

”Barely.”

The expedition reorganized again.

This time Galahad insisted on a stricter formation. Iris and the Iron Vanguard guide moved first into the drainage galleries. Kael followed close enough to use System warnings but far enough that one collapse would not catch all three. Derren’s litter came next, followed by Tovin’s. The walking wounded stayed between the two healers.

Darius and Galahad covered the rear half.

Sera and Milo moved where they could see both front and back.

Milo objected to being called mobile support while visibly limping.

Galahad ignored him.

The drainage gallery began as a narrow slit between worked walls.

Then it opened.

Warm water covered the floor.

Not clear.

Mineral-rich and faintly gray, moving steadily around their boots.

Milo stepped into it.

His expression changed.

Kael looked toward him.

”Well?”

Milo thought.

”Walter would complain.”

Kael laughed.

Sera groaned. ”Are we doing this again?”

”Yes,” Milo said. ”It is how I remember civilization.”

The water deepened gradually.

Ankle.

Then shin.

The litters became harder to carry.

Darius adjusted Derren higher.

The lower-camp workers carrying Tovin did the same.

The System warned Kael about a depression near the left wall.

[Depth increase: sudden]

”Stay right.”

Iris tested.

The left side dropped almost three feet.

She marked it with chalk above the waterline.

They continued.

For nearly twenty minutes, nothing attacked them.

That became unsettling in its own way.

The Caldera had trained them to expect violence.

Instead, there was only water, stone, exhausted breathing, and the occasional distant groan of the earth.

Milo moved closer to Kael.

”Do you know what is worse than drakes?”

Kael looked at him.

”Waiting for drakes?”

”Yes.”

The Iron Vanguard guide glanced back. ”There aren’t usually drakes in the drainage galleries.”

Milo pointed at him.

”Do not.”

The man frowned.

”Do not what?”

”Say ’usually.’”

Sera laughed.

Even Galahad smiled.

The humor lasted until the water stopped moving.

Iris noticed first.

She crouched.

The current had weakened.

Then disappeared.

Kael frowned.

The System opened.

[Flow interruption detected]

Water accumulation increasing behind current position

Probable obstruction ahead

Galahad looked toward Kael.

”Problem?”

”The current stopped.”

The guide turned.

”That is bad.”

Milo whispered, ”Excellent.”

Iris moved ahead.

The water deepened around her knees.

Then her thighs.

She stopped.

”Blocked.”

Galahad approached as far as the litter formation allowed.

”Collapsed?”

”Gate.”

The guide stared. ”There is no gate here.”

Iris looked back.

”There is now.”

That sent a different kind of tension through the group.

They advanced carefully until Kael saw it.

A crude barrier had been built across the gallery using heavy timber, iron braces, and packed stone. It was not ancient infrastructure.

It was recent.

Water pressed against it from their side.

Not violently yet.

But the level was rising.

Galahad looked at the guide.

”You know this?”

”No.”

The answer came immediately.

Kael believed he was surprised.

Iris inspected the barrier without touching it.

”Built from the east side.”

Darius looked toward her. ”Certain?”

”Bracing faces us.”

That meant whoever built it had expected pressure from this direction.

Sera looked at the water.

”To flood the gallery?”

”Maybe,” Iris said.

Milo stared at the structure.

”Could be keeping something out.”

That was also possible.

No assumptions.

Galahad looked toward Kael. ”Scan?”

Kael focused.

[Structural Analysis]

Barrier integrity: high

Recent construction

Water pressure increasing

Sealed space beyond barrier: airflow detected through upper gaps

No large heat signatures immediately beyond

That last part helped.

”Nothing large right behind it.”

Milo frowned. ”That is a very specific comfort.”

Kael ignored him. ”There is airflow on the other side. It does continue.”

Galahad looked toward the barrier.

”Can we open it?”

Iris inspected the iron braces.

”Not quietly.”

Darius looked toward the rising water.

”Quiet is becoming less important.”

The Iron Vanguard guide walked closer.

”There should be a maintenance break farther north.”

Iris looked at him.

”You said you did not know the gate was here.”

”I know the gallery layout.”

”Where?”

He pointed toward a narrow ledge above the right wall.

”Up there. Old access trench.”

Sera looked.

The ledge was perhaps nine feet above the water.

No ladder.

Milo followed her gaze.

Then looked away.

”No.”

Kael smiled. ”No what?”

”I know that expression.”

”What expression?”

”The one where everyone remembers I can move people.”

Sera smiled.

”You can?”

Milo stared at her.

”You personally watched me move an entire litter.”

”That was before you used nearly all your mana.”

Milo pointed at her.

”Exactly.”

Galahad looked toward the ledge.

”Iris can climb.”

Iris had already started.

She used cracks in the wall, an iron brace, and one of the support beams to pull herself upward without magic.

Milo watched.

”Wonderful. Competence saves mana.”

Iris reached the ledge.

Then disappeared into the narrow trench.

The party waited.

Water climbed another inch.

Then another.

Tovin groaned.

The healer immediately checked him.

”His breathing is worse.”

Galahad looked down.

”How long?”

”I don’t know.”

”Before moving becomes impossible?”

”That depends how deep the water gets.”

That was not an answer anyone liked.

Kael’s System warned:

[Water level rise: accelerating]

Current increase: +1.8 inches/minute

Kael looked toward the barrier.

”If we stay here another ten minutes, carrying the litters becomes much harder.”

Darius nodded.

”Break it.”

Galahad held up one hand.

”Wait for Scout.”

Thirty seconds.

Forty.

A minute.

Then Iris called from above.

”Found the other side!”

Galahad looked up.

”Route?”

”Open!”

”People?”

Pause.

”No.”

Kael noticed the delay.

”What?”

Iris appeared above the barrier.

Her expression had changed.

”There are blood marks.”

Galahad’s eyes narrowed.

”How much?”

”Enough.”

Milo sighed.

”Of course.”

Galahad looked toward Derren and Tovin.

Then the rising water.

”We open it.”

Darius stepped toward the barrier.

Kael’s System immediately warned.

[Sudden barrier failure may produce dangerous water surge]

”Not all at once.”

Darius stopped.

Kael pointed at the lower brace.

”If we break the whole thing, the water will hit the other side hard enough to knock people off their feet.”

The Iron Vanguard guide looked at the water level.

”Then open the top first.”

Milo looked toward him. ”Look at that. Useful.”

The guide ignored him.

Iris called down. ”There is a release pin on this side.”

”Can you reach it?” Galahad asked.

”Yes.”

”What happens?”

”It pulls the upper brace.”

Kael focused.

[Controlled partial release may reduce pressure differential]

”Do that first.”

Iris pulled.

The top section of the barrier shifted.

Water immediately poured through a narrow gap.

Not enough.

But pressure began equalizing.

Everyone waited.

The water around their legs stopped rising as quickly.

Milo looked down.

”Beautiful.”

Sera glanced at him.

”You are praising drainage.”

”I have grown.”

After several minutes, the System updated.

[Pressure differential reduced by 43%]

Kael looked toward Galahad.

”Now.”

Darius took the central iron brace.

The guide took another.

Galahad joined them.

Kael placed Ice along the timber connection—not to reinforce it, but to make the wet wood more brittle.

Darius pulled.

The brace tore free.

Water rushed through.

Everyone braced.

The surge reached their knees, then weakened as it passed through the opening.

Milo used a tiny burst of Wind to keep the strongest splash from striking Tovin’s face.

The healer looked at him.

”I thought you were empty.”

Milo looked tired enough to sleep standing.

”I remain committed to disappointing expectations.”

They widened the opening.

One person at a time.

Then the first litter.

Derren cleared.

Tovin followed.

The walking wounded came next.

Kael went through near the end.

Blood marks covered the opposite wall.

Not one smear.

Several.

Some handprints.

Some streaks along the stone.

Iris waited beside them.

Galahad entered and looked.

”Fresh?”

”Within a day.”

The Iron Vanguard guide came through.

His face changed immediately.

He knew something.

Galahad saw it.

”What?”

The guide looked farther down the gallery.

”Nothing.”

Milo emerged behind Kael.

”No.”

The guide looked at him.

Milo pointed weakly.

”We have been through this. That was a ’something’ face.”

The guide ignored him.

Galahad stepped closer. ”You recognize the blood?”

”No.”

”The situation?”

Silence.

There.

Galahad did not raise his voice.

”What happened here?”

The guide looked down the gallery.

Then back.

”This barrier should not exist.”

”You said that.”

”The drainage galleries are supposed to stay open.”

”Why?”

”Pressure relief.”

Kael’s attention sharpened.

”What kind of pressure?”

”Water. Heat. Gas.”

Everyone looked back at the barrier.

The barrier that had been deliberately built across a pressure-relief gallery.

The System reacted.

[Environmental Model Updated]

Blocked drainage likely contributed to local water accumulation

Potential secondary effect: redirected thermal/gas pressure

Contribution to broader Caldera instability: unverified

That was significant.

Not proof of the whole problem.

But something.

Galahad’s expression hardened.

”Who would block a relief gallery?”

The guide did not answer.

Maybe he did not know.

Maybe he did.

The blood marks continued east.

Iris followed them with her eyes.

”They go our direction.”

Galahad looked toward the wounded.

Of course they did.

They moved again.

The gallery beyond the barrier was drier.

Cooler too.

For the first time in hours, Kael felt something approaching normal air against his face.

Milo noticed.

He inhaled dramatically.

”Air.”

Sera looked at him.

”You have been breathing the whole time.”

”Not like this.”

The relief did not last.

The blood trail became clearer.

Then they found the first body.

A man lying against the right wall.

No armor.

Work clothes.

Dead.

Iris checked anyway.

Then shook her head.

The System confirmed no living heat.

Galahad crouched.

”What killed him?”

Iris looked at the wounds.

”Cuts.”

”Drake?”

”No.”

Sera stepped closer.

”Blade?”

”Yes.”

That changed the atmosphere immediately.

No one joked.

The Iron Vanguard guide looked pale.

Darius’s hand moved toward his sword.

Not drawing.

Ready.

Galahad looked down the gallery.

”Formation tighter.”

They moved.

Second body.

Another worker.

Blade wound across the back.

Third.

This one wore leather armor.

Same iron insignia.

His sword was still in his hand.

He had died facing east.

Kael’s System flashed.

[DIRECTIONAL SCAN]

Humanoid heat signatures ahead

Count: 4

Distance: approximately 90 paces

Movement: slow

Kael raised one hand.

”Four ahead.”

Darius drew his sword.

Sera raised her bow.

Milo exhaled.

”No drakes?”

”No.”

Milo looked almost relieved.

Then Kael continued.

”Human-sized.”

His expression flattened.

”Of course.”

Galahad looked toward the guide.

”Your people?”

The guide stared at the dead fighter.

”I don’t know.”

”Who else uses these galleries?”

The man did not answer.

Iris moved ahead.

Galahad allowed her only twenty paces this time.

No full scout separation with wounded behind them and unknown killers ahead.

The gallery turned.

A lantern burned on the floor beyond the bend.

Four people stood around it.

One was injured.

Two held swords.

The fourth sat against the wall.

Nobody attacked.

Not immediately.

The nearest swordsman saw the Iron Vanguard guide first.

His expression changed.

Then he saw Darius.

Then Kael.

Then the litters.

”What happened to you?”

Galahad answered first.

”Long day.”

Milo nodded.

”Excellent summary.”

The swordsman looked toward the bodies behind them.

His face hardened.

”You came through the barrier.”

”Yes.”

”Did you build it?”

Galahad asked.

The man looked genuinely confused.

”What?”

”The barrier.”

”No.”

”Then who did?”

”No idea.”

Iris watched him.

Nothing obvious.

The wounded person near the lantern spoke.

”Ask them about the cart.”

Everyone looked.

Galahad’s expression sharpened.

”What cart?”

The man laughed weakly.

”Red corner.”

Kael went still.

Derren’s crate.

The refined magical energy containers.

The destroyed cart near the feeding channel.

Galahad stepped closer.

”What do you know about it?”

The swordsman turned toward the wounded man.

”Shut up.”

Galahad’s voice cooled.

”No.”

The swordsman looked toward him.

Darius moved one step forward.

The man reconsidered.

The wounded worker wiped blood from his mouth.

”They moved them through here.”

”How many crates?”

”Six.”

”When?”

”Yesterday.”

”Who?”

The man looked toward the swordsmen beside him.

Fear.

Real fear.

Galahad noticed.

”Who?”

The worker swallowed.

”Don’t know names.”

One of the armed men snapped, ”Enough.”

The wounded worker laughed again.

”You left us to die.”

Silence.

The swordsman’s face changed.

Milo whispered, ”I am beginning to detect a workplace morale issue.”

No one laughed.

Galahad looked between them.

”What happened here?”

The worker pointed weakly down the gallery.

”They fought.”

”Who?”

”Two crews.”

”Why?”

”Crates.”

There.

A piece.

Not the whole answer.

The worker continued.

”One group said move them deeper. Other said take them east.”

”Why?”

”I don’t know.”

”Then?”

”Swords.”

He glanced toward the bodies behind Kael.

”Then someone shut the drainage gate.”

Kael looked toward the Iron Vanguard guide.

The man looked just as disturbed.

Galahad asked the worker, ”Why block the gallery?”

”Stop the east group.”

”And trap everyone west of it?”

The worker looked away.

”Yes.”

That was ugly.

Not grand.

Not supernatural.

People fighting over cargo and using the Caldera itself as a weapon.

Kael’s System quietly updated.

[Evidence Link]

Refined-energy containers moved through drainage route

Internal armed conflict reported over cargo destination

Drainage barrier reportedly constructed during conflict

Potential contribution to local instability: plausible

Broader causation: unresolved

Good.

The story was becoming clearer without suddenly becoming complete.

Then Tovin moved.

The healer immediately turned.

His eyes opened.

Not fully.

His mouth moved.

No sound.

She leaned closer.

”Tovin?”

Everyone nearby went still.

Tovin’s lips moved again.

The healer frowned.

”What?”

Derren lifted his head from the other litter.

”Tovin.”

Tovin’s eyes shifted toward the sound.

For the first time since they had found him, recognition appeared.

His fingers tightened weakly around the blue cloth at his wrist.

Derren tried to sit.

The healer beside him pushed him back.

Tovin whispered something.

Kael could not hear.

The healer near him leaned closer.

Then looked toward Galahad.

”He said a name.”

Galahad stepped over.

”What name?”

She frowned.

”I think—”

Tovin forced the word out again.

Weak.

Broken.

But audible.

”Lysa.”

Derren’s face changed.

Galahad crouched beside Tovin.

”Where is Lysa?”

Tovin’s eyes rolled slightly.

The healer touched his neck.

”He is fading again.”

Galahad leaned closer.

”Tovin. Where?”

Tovin’s hand moved.

Not pointing east.

Not west.

Down.

His finger weakly touched the side of the litter.

Then he whispered:

”Below.”

His eyes closed.

The healer immediately checked his breathing.

”Still alive.”

Galahad remained crouched for several seconds.

Nobody spoke.

Rellan had been found dead.

Tovin had survived somehow.

And now they had the first indication that the third member of the missing party might have gone even deeper beneath the Caldera.

Galahad looked toward the dark continuation of the drainage gallery.

Then toward the wounded people surrounding him.

Kael knew what he was thinking.

They could not chase her now.

Not with this group.

Not blindly.

Not because of one word from a critically injured man.

Galahad stood.

”We get everyone to stable ground first.”

Derren looked at him.

”Galahad—”

”We heard him.”

”She might be alive.”

”She might.”

”You’re leaving her?”

Galahad’s expression tightened.

”No.”

He looked toward Tovin.

”I’m refusing to kill everyone else trying to reach her without knowing where she is.”

Derren closed his mouth.

That answer hurt.

It was still right.

Darius nodded once.

Kael did too.

The expedition had learned something.

Not enough to throw away what they had already saved.

Galahad turned toward the four people by the lantern.

”Does this gallery reach east?”

The nearest swordsman nodded reluctantly.

”Eventually.”

Milo groaned.

The man frowned.

”What?”

”Nothing.”

Kael smiled despite himself.

Galahad continued.

”How far to somewhere defensible?”

The wounded worker answered instead.

”Old cistern. Twenty minutes.”

The swordsman looked at him angrily.

The worker looked back.

”What are you going to do? Leave me again?”

That silenced him.

Galahad pointed east.

”Then we go to the cistern.”

The System flashed quietly.

[Environmental Scan]

Airflow strengthens eastward

Temperature decreasing

No immediate large heat signatures detected

For once, the direction they needed to travel and the safer direction were the same.

Kael took that as a victory.

A small one.

They needed every small victory they could get.