In the decommissioned underground factory, the ghostly fire had been extinguished. Dozens of Awakened were moving, preparing to depart. All of them had summoned luminous Memories, and the dancing lights made the shadows populating the vast production hall reluctantly retreat.
Ascended Morrow was standing in front of a st.u.r.dy wall, looking at it with a somber expression. Eventually, she nodded and glanced at one of her subordinates:
"This is the spot. Isolate it."
The Awakened nodded and raised his hands. Soon, a strange silence fell upon them. It was not the mundane kind of silence many Memories could create, though - instead, it was the manifestation of an Ability that could cut a stretch of s.p.a.ce from the rest of the world, subduing all tremors and sounds that would escape it.
The city was constantly being monitored by countless seismic sensors on account of Nightmare Creatures often burrowing underground, so nothing less would do if they wanted to remain unnoticed.
Satisfied, Morrow raised a hand and clicked her fingers. A moment later, a violent sonic boom resounded, and a large portion of the wall in front of her shattered into dust. Behind it, an entrance to a tunnel was revealed, drowned in darkness.
Cold wind entered the production hall, making the Awakened s.h.i.+ver. Even Morrow herself suddenly felt uneasy, for whatever reason. With a frown, she lowered her hand and said evenly:
"Clear the debris. The entrance should be wide enough for the cage to fit. Second Cohort, scout out the tunnel and make sure that there are no blockages there."
Seven Awakened jumped down into the darkness, while the rest of her subordinates got busy preparing the hole she created for the creature's cage. The cohort in charge of keeping an eye on the abominations was going to bring it any minute now... lowering the ma.s.sive containment device down would not be easy, but they had come prepared.
The man in the uniform of the Evacuation Army watched the process with a worried face. After a minute, he cleared his throat awkwardly:
"Well, I... I will be going, then. My job here... is done?"
Morrow glanced at him indifferently.
"Go."
The thrall was of no use anymore. Their escape from the city would be handled by a different sleeper cell. If it was up to her, she would have gotten rid of the man - and his people - to clean up loose ends, but they could become useful in the future.
Even mundanes could do a lot of harm if armed with the right tools. Although Morrow felt it was beneath her to use vulgar weapons of the bygone era, in the grand scheme of things, not even crude instruments like that could be neglected.
Others might not have known, but she understood what was at stake.
The man disappeared, and the entrance to the tunnel was cleared.
...Their exodus from the underground factory was being dragged out, however, because the creature cage was slow to arrive.
Morrow felt irritated.
'What is taking them so long?'
She thought about sending someone else to fetch the guard cohort, then decided against it and took out a special Memory. Although using it required some essence to be spent, right now, time was more important.
The Memory was called the [Reaching Hand], and consisted of a scattering of finger bones. Each of the four cohorts under Morrow's command was in possession of a phalanx, and she held the fifth one. People who touched the ancient phalanxes could communicate with each other across small distances.
Ironically, the reach of the [Reaching Hand] was not large. However, it possessed the unique quality of being s.h.i.+elded from most divination Abilities, which was very valuable for the sort of mission they were currently on.
Morrow gripped the bone and spoke, mentally connecting to the cohort that guarded the creature cage on another level of the factory:
"Mont. Where are you?"
Soon, the leader of the cohort responded, her voice resonating in the vast production hall:
"Sister Morrow? We are guarding the creature. Has something happened?"
Morrow suddenly felt a bad premonition.
"What do you mean? Have you not received my order?"
Awakened Mont lingered.
"...I am sorry, Sister. What order?"
She gritted her teeth.
"I sent two..."
But then, Morrow grew silent.
The two Awakened she had sent to relay the order... why were they not back yet? She had a.s.sumed that they had stayed with Mont to help move the cage, but why would they?
'Not good.'
She hesitated for a split second, then said calmly:
"Get the cage here right now."
What had happened? Had the enemy already discovered their location and silently infiltrated the factory? How could they, without disturbing any of the wards she had placed on all the entrances?.
If the soldiers of Valor were already here...
She glanced at her subordinates and barked:
"a.s.semble into a battle formation! Prepare for an attack!"
A moment later, Morrow reached through the phalanx to the cohort that had gone forward to scout out the tunnel:
"Rikas, return immediately."
There was a short span of silence, and then she heard the familiar voice of Awakened Rikas:
"Yes, Sister. We are coming."
Concerned, the warriors of Song swiftly a.s.sembled into a defensive formation. They stood near the entrance to the tunnel, looking nervously into the darkness of the production hall. The factory was silent.
Soon, the silence was disturbed by a loud noise. With a screeching sound of rusted metal, a cargo elevator arrived. Its doors opened, revealing a ma.s.sive cage of enchanted alloy. Seven Awakened used all their strength to roll the cage forward.
Morrow secretly let out a relieved sigh.
'...At least the creature is secured.'
Now, they were only missing the two messengers and the cohort that had entered the tunnel.
"Rikas, how long before you arrive?"
There was a stretch of silence again before he responded:
"Sister... we are coming."
Morrow frowned.
The familiar voice persisted:
"We are... we are..."
Something was very, very wrong with it.
"We are coming..."
The voice... it did not come from the phalanx. Instead, it came directly from the dark entrance of the tunnel.
She looked into the hole, seeing only a boundless expanse of shadows.
Then, something rolled out of the darkness.
...It was the severed head of Awakened Rikas.