As expected, they didn’t find anything when trying the other exit from the underground complex. Tim had sent his party out in groups, trying to move quickly, but he’d always known the chances of catching their quarry, or finding anything they might have left behind, were low.

  Tim suspected there had been a few more golems, though. They hadn’t found any, but the artificer had clearly posted some a short distance beyond the complex on the other side to guard the entrance, where they’d fought the golems. It stood to reason there had been a guard on this entrance as well, but the artificer must have picked them up and brought them with them as they fled. It was even possible they had some way of communicating with them remotely. He wasn’t sure if they’d been alerted of his group’s approach and had simply taken the risk of staying a little longer or not.

  His party also hadn’t found anyone else, which was probably a mixed blessing. He had no way to know how many people were aware of this place. Presumably, the golem artificer hadn’t been working alone. Tim was confident his party was more than a match for whoever else might show up, though, at least in the short term, which was why he had turned to exploration and cataloging everything they could find with little concern about other intruders.

  It took a while, as expected. The complex was pretty big. Almost certainly bigger than the outpost the Hive had found in the Great Forest, where Regina had been hatched. And it was obviously a different Hive. Even if the distance between the two locations hadn’t indicated that, there were differences in style as well. Almost everything inside the compound had been taken or destroyed at some point, though, so it was hard to learn anything else about it. Or even what it had been used for. By this point, he was pretty confident the place that connected to the outside with another large tunnel was indeed a vehicle bay of some kind originally, but that was one of the few rooms where he could even say that with any certainty.

  “And what now?” Tim muttered, staring across the vehicle bay.

  There was still a lot of material left; the old Hivekind had clearly found, or created, it cheaply and hadn’t held back in making their armaments and vehicles. But little of it would still be useable. Most just looked like scrap.

  Little didn’t necessarily mean none, though, and he didn’t know how thoroughly whoever had trashed this place had checked. It was possible they could still find something important, but they would have to manually sift through all of this.

  “How long are we going to stay here?” Tirias asked. It was barely not a whine. Elves weren’t made for the underground, as he’d said more than once. Alvol and Nucme had only scoffed.

  Tim bit down on the impulse to say ‘as long as it takes’. Honestly, he was unsure and the question had weighed on his mind practically since he first realized what this place was — what did they do now? It could be a priceless opportunity, but it was also located a long distance away from the Empire or the Hive and in the middle of disputed land regularly being fought over by the locals.

  If only he could talk to his other siblings. Or to Mother.

  “At least for a while longer,” he decided. “Ash, Anuis, Ed, a word?”

  He turned and walked a few meters to where they could talk privately. “I’m inclined to not let this go so easily. What do you think?”

  “It’s going to draw attention sooner or later,” Ash warned. “And people might fight for it. This area is already volatile, right?”

  “It is,” Anuis added, nodding. “Add an Ancient ruin to the mix and it will only get worse — I know that’s not what it truly is, but it’s what people will think of it as.”

  “We can hold anyone off for a while, until and unless they actually muster an army, though,” Ash offered. “Although we still don’t know who else knows about and has been using this place. We need to find out more.”

  Tim sighed, glancing at the others. “I think we can sit on this for at least a while, and then maybe leave a guard behind. We’ll think about other destinations and where we might get help. But, Galatea has been visiting us at least semi-regularly since we left. I’m sure she’s scrying on us.”

  “You don’t want to do anything more until you have checked in with the Empress, then,” Ed said, nodding. “Perfectly sensible in my opinion.”

  “Yeah.” Tim glanced at the ritual circle they’d carefully left alone. There was that, too.

  Once they returned to the other group, the local human adventurer, Tony, who’d been pretty quiet so far, spoke up. “Lord Tim, this may be a find that necessitates informing your allies. I am sure Archmage Lucian would be pleased to help you secure this site.”

  Tim frowned. That was a bit more formal than usual, and also raised some implications. “You think so?”

  “I could contact him,” Tony continued. “We only need to travel a league or so, and I can send a message to Veragles. He could be here with help soon. We don’t even need to inform the Prince if you don’t want to.”

  Tim’s frown deepened. He supposed it wasn’t so surprising. Even if his group had tried to bring tamed beasts used as messengers, they couldn’t have crossed the mountains, and magical means of communicating at that distance from a variable location weren’t really feasible either, so they hadn’t bothered to try. But there was no reason someone couldn’t send a message to a city that was much closer on this side of the mountains.

  “How would this work?” he asked carefully. “Pragmatically speaking, I mean.”

  Tony shrugged. “Well, I’m not a commander. But you know there are a few cities fighting over this stretch of land. The smaller one to the north, Iliucin, is allied to Veragles —“

  “Beholden, you mean,” Iliam said. He was sitting on an unstable looking metal pile and kicking his legs idly.

  “Whichever. And Lord Thande’s family is strong there. He has a lot of resources to call on.”

  Tim sighed. “I appreciate the offer, Tony, but I’ll have to decline for now.”

  The adventurer straightened up. “You need to reconsider, Tim. Something like this .. the Archmage will want to know. I’m not going to keep it from him.”

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  Tim pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, then. Tony, you’ll stay here until further notice. I’ll give you all guard shift rotations. You will not set foot outside the complex without my say-so, you understand? Just to be safe. Can’t lose my contact with Veragles.”

  Tony stared at him. Tim just turned to Iliam. “And you?”

  The dwarf just shrugged again. “I’m not sure who’s actually supposed to be paying me at the moment, but I like you and I’m not loyal enough to Thande to betray you to him. Besides, this just got really interesting.”

  Tim rolled his eyes, but he thought Iliam was sincere. He’d still make sure both of them were watched, of course.

  The next two days or so were full of tense waiting. Tim paced through as much of the halls of the complex as he could, a bit disappointed that no one in his current party had wings. Definitely an oversight. He tried to catalog what he could see and assess what it might have meant, helped by the others. They watched all entrances they could find and pulled a lot of guard shifts. So far, no one else showed up, not even a monster.

  Tim was just about to consider who he might leave behind as a guard to watch the place while he went to that other city when his patience was rewarded.

  It started with Nucme appearing in the doorway to the hall he was currently in, looking almost windswept. “Tim, come to the bay,” he called, already turning.

  Tim swallowed his questions and followed the dark elf, rushing through several corridors. When he finally entered the vehicle bay and made his way past several blocks of scrap metal to where his group had set up camp, he breathed a sigh of relief and felt some of his tension relax. Galatea was there, looming above the group impressively for someone whose projected body was shorter than him. She had crossed her arms and was looking around with a guarded expression.

  “Galatea,” Tim greeted her as he skittered to a halt, breathing a little harder. “I’m glad to see you. We need your help.”

  “I can see that,” she responded, sweeping her gaze across him and then around. “I wasn’t expecting you guys to be underground. The scrying backlash wasn’t pleasant. Tim, what is this place?”

  He ran a hand through his hair, then briefly explained everything that had happened the last few days and what he had found out and supposed about this underground complex. He couldn’t read her reaction very well, aware that she only showed on her face what she wanted to, but she listened without interruption.

  “So, I’m a little stumped on what to do next,” he concluded. “But for now, can you take a look at this?”

  Instead of grabbing her arm, he just gestured vaguely with it and turned to lead her to the metal plate etched with magic circles. Most of the others stayed behind at the camp, if they weren’t on guard shift, though a few trailed after them.

  “Is this from the old Hivekind or just a magical technique I hadn’t heard of from this part of the world?” he asked.

  Galatea frowned down at it, staying silent for a few seconds, before she shook her head. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “It seems vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite place it. Maybe it is from an old Hive, maybe it’s just a local tradition I haven’t encountered much, or maybe someone combined elements of both. It will need a bit more study.”

  She tapped her fingers and he waited silently until she met his gaze squarely again. “Regina will be very interested to hear about this, but the location could be better, to be sure. At least it hasn’t already come under the control of any local power. Under the circumstances, I think we can safely say your original diplomatic mission can take a backseat, or at least include another objective.”

  Tim nodded. That was some assurance he’d wished for, even if she hadn’t said anything surprising. “You’ll let them know?”

  “Of course.” Galatea started pacing up and down, then nodded and turned back to him. “Chin up, Tim. This isn’t a bad thing. We can make this work.”

  “I hope so,” Tim muttered, then filled her in on the situation with Tony and Veragles in more detail.

  Galatea didn’t seem particularly concerned. “Honestly, it was probably to be expected that one of them would report back to the archmage. Intersting detail about their city’s influence, though. I’ll tell Regina about this as well, but she’ll probably back whichever way you want to play this. Whether that means a closer alliance with one local faction here or not. But you might not have to fight alone, anyway.”

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  “Regina may send another group through the mountains. I’m not up to date on their exact progress, but the Empire has been working on securing the route. Another special forces group is definitely doable, I think, especially after the end of the war with the gnomes. If you want to ask for reinforcements …”

  “Yes, please,” he said with feeling. Another kernel of hope lit in his chest as well. If they open the way, I can return, even just for a brief time … But he pushed that away, now wasn’t the time to pout over missing his Hive. “That would be great. I think my mission is going well enough, but some backup would definitely be appreciated.”

  “I’m sure,” Galatea said a bit drily, and nodded. “I’ll let them know. And Tim, you know you can talk to me if you’re not feeling well, right? I should be able to take a passenger back, even if we have to make shorter hops. If you, or one of your party, is suffering from being separated from the psychic link …”

  Tim breathed out deeply and shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, Galatea, but we can handle it.”

  She looked at him for a moment, but seemed to accept that. “Then I will be on my way soon. But for now, can you show me that golem head you say you took?”

  Tim nodded and guided Galatea back to their camp and the rest of the group. They’d passed around their mysterious spoil, but currently someone had propped it up against some of the bags. He reached out, turned it in his hands thoughtfully once and then offered it to the mana-form.

  Before Galatea could do more than hold it and take a quick look, the others distracted her with questions and requests. Tim hid a grimace. He shouldn’t monopolize her attention, but he felt a bit antsy about sending word back to the Hive and getting information from them. Still, they had all been more or less isolated for a while.

  “Lady Galatea,” Tony spoke up. “I am not sure if you are aware, but I have the option of contacting our patron in Veragles. Perhaps you could even accompany us, or confirm that there is no foul play at work? We can get reinforcements to help secure this position quite quickly this way. It would be much faster and more convenient than waiting for troops from the Empire that may never arrive, and much less disruptive, as well. More Imperial forces showing up would inflame tempers and perhaps provoke a conflict, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Galatea paused, frowning at him. “I’m sure Tim has thought of all that.”

  Tim shifted his weight. It was nice to hear Galatea back him up, although he wouldn’t mind a second opinion.

  “Are you trying to get her to overrule his princely lordship?” Iliam asked, leaning back against another twisted metal contraption he’d dragged over and re-fletching an arrow. “Would that even work?”

  Galatea paused and Tim and she exchanged a look. Galatea had no official status or rank in the Empire, she’d never wanted one. The Delvers showed her respect or even deference and she was the Empress’ best friend, but you could argue she had no official authority. Not that it really mattered. Tim shrugged slightly at her. If Galatea had a strong opinion on this topic, he was willing to follow her lead, anyway. Besides, she could talk to Regina and get her orders.

  “Mother values her highly,” Tim said, a bit stiffly. “But she put me in charge here. I would always listen to Galatea, it’s pointless to try and create some kind of conflict between us.”

  “Sure, no offense meant,” Iliam drawled, focusing back on his task.

  “You should all stay put here for a while longer,” Galatea said. “I’m sure the time will come to talk to our contacts in Veragles.” She glanced at him and Tim knew they were both thinking the same thing: The city wouldn’t send soldiers here just to help them out. They’d do it as part of a —probably planned — grasp for power in the region.

  Potentially Ancient ruin or not, this place wasn’t really important enough for everyone to go to war over. Tim would give it up and leave if it came to that. But until then, he would still try to find out what was going on.

  At least he could now let someone who knew what they were doing worry about the magical questions. He just liked the chance of learning more about their predecessors.