-- Content Warning for those who cannot see the pre-chapter notes, this chapter has some triggering things involving coercion, moral quandaries and body horror --

  Raven stayed crouched, letting her green feathers and sail blend in with the foliage. Mazen, not moving, blended in easily as well with his dark green skin and bark-like scales. Only Jace with his pale human skin and dark clothing stood out so he kept behind them as the hillsec trio passed by not far away.

  They had crossed the river only an hour before, steadily making their way east, and heard the hillsec coming. The group was talking loudly, though not in common. They were all wearing black robes trimmed in brown and carried weird sacks on their shoulders alongside bows. Thankfully they didn’t once even glance their way, so set on whatever task they were doing.

  “Looks like we’re on the right path.” Jace whispered, slowly rising after the trio could no longer be seen.

  Raven stood too, casting her eyes in the direction the hillsec had gone before nodding. “We should be careful though. There might be more than one group like that and no telling when they will come back.” She carefully marked a tree in a fashion that could be confused for a deer scratch. It was a warning for anyone of the guild to be careful this way as enemies were likely.

  The group continued on, eventually getting to the edge of the forest. A grassland spread out before them. Raven could see a few wild oxen grazing peacefully in the tall grass. As she scanned the area she saw a structure far to the north. A stone tower of sorts rose high above the grass, easy to see even at this distance.

  “Pretty sure it is that way.” She pointed, thinking about the story Ramjack had told. Stone tunnels, an archway into grassy hills not far from a forest. He’d run and not looked back.

  The three of them moved cautiously in the grass while still keeping the woods in view on the left. Much of the grass was tall, a yellow green color which Raven nearly vanished into. Birds cawed overhead as they moved but other than that nothing stirred. The closer they got to the tower the more they could see that it was part of a large stone building, wide at the base with the tower poking up from the middle. The tower was the only place she saw any kind of window.

  “Now what?” Mazen asked as Raven directed them around the side of the building. She took stock of the grass, noticing that it looked undisturbed around the structure. No patrols, which was weird. She reached out with her magical senses, looking for wards or alarms. While she picked up on bits of magic leaking from the building there was no evidence of anything outside that would detect them.

  “We set up camp. I was thinking the woods but it looks like they go there to hunt. I don’t see any windows for them to see us out here and the grass is not disturbed enough for patrols. We should scout around to see if there is anything out here for cover so we don’t have to worry about the tower.” She still spoke low, though she knew that unless there was a hillsec sneaking around the corner even one through the wall wouldn’t be able to hear her.

  While they were not the most stealthy of people they were all adventurers, used to some level of sneaking. They kept low, their heads barely visible amid the tall grass as they moved. They couldn’t help the disruption they did to the grass but they could minimize it. With any luck the oxen would move close and cover the damage with some of their own.

  Not far from the building the hillsec were using the group found the overgrown ruins. Ancient dwellings, long overgrown. Most of them had collapsed long ago but some just had vines use them as climbing anchors for their growth. They searched several of them carefully before Jace found one he liked. “One think I know from any work with the Guild of Engineering is how to judge structures. It is something that overlaps with the Guild of Builders. This thing has stood for a long time and as long as we don’t punch holes in it, it should last for a while longer.”

  “Ok. This will be our base. No fires, even the smoke will draw attention from that tower but the tall grass around should keep us being in here from being noticed.”

  The group unslung their packs and started setting up even as they talked. “How long before more of the guild make it here you think?” Mazen asked.

  Jace pulled out the special notebook with its special pen. “I will let them know we are here. Hopefully they will start sending people and we will see them in a week.”

  —————————————

  Mildred and Camphus had been shocked when they had been shoved into my room. I had hurriedly explained to them in the corner furthest from the door that I had only insisted they be brought here so that they could be safe. That I had no interest in them even if they were willing as I already had a girlfriend. I wasn’t the type to take advantage of others. I even gave over the plush pillow bed and dragged the two chair pillows together for my own sleeping.

  They ended up with new robes of their own, the gray trimmed kind. Over the next few days they were escorted to various lower floors where the other servants were and put on tasks, mostly to fetch my food and launder my clothing. It allowed them a bit more range than I did. I still had escorts, and my room was guarded at night.

  In the evening after I was lead back to my room, the woman there with the food ready to go, we would talk in that same corner. They shared with me that the other woman, all hillsec, only spoke Alliance and not Common.

  “They’re prisoners like us.” Mildred said softly, one evening as she carefully chewed her cooked rabbit. It was more identifiable now that she took over the food prep for us in the kitchens. “I think they were raised in this place.”

  “I’ve gotten that impression too. I have another bow test tomorrow. Some other infected.” I shivered at the thought, “They’re still just taking me to the same two areas. The research lab and the testing ranges.”

  “After the second day,” Camphus added after swallowing her meal, “The guards stopped escorting us. They just give us a duty list to complete and let us go.”

  “An advantage.” Mildred nodded her head, “They think so little of us that they don’t think we can escape.”

  “Have you been mapping the area then?” I asked her, finishing my food. The meat was better now that it was no longer burnt but I longed for the meals back at the townhouse. I hoped Thanolin and Bibbel were ok.

  “It’s in my head so the guards won’t see if they stop me. So far they’ve mostly ignored me. Not like some of the girl’s I’ve seen.” She shook her head, “If we’re getting out of here Ram I want to get them out too. They don’t know better and if they get out of this place they might have a better life than this.”

  “And the children.” Camphus put in, “I was delivering food to the nursery. Only a few women down there, mostly small children of both sexes. Not sure where the older ones are but I’m guessing they are taken from moms to be educated like the adults around here.”

  “I might be able to talk to them” I assured, “But if we don’t have escape in front of us I don’t want to get their hopes up.”

  “I think the meat charring and occasional missed stitch on robes is their way to rebel against their treatment.” Mildred said with a sudden smile. “I’ve seen how some look at me when I’m in the kitchen making our food. They don’t eat till after the rest of the meals have been served when the guards are not watching and they don’t burn things then. It’s not what they like to eat either.”

  I laughed a bit then. “Good to hear it. Now for our lesson?” And after we ate I taught then a few more words of Alliance, just as I had done the last few nights.

  —————

  I didn’t want to get used to my new routine of translating a book and teaching Mildred and Camphus. This was a temporary thing, something we needed to keep our eyes and ears open for escape from. It was too easy just to fold into the cults wishes and get used to it. That would lead to enjoying.

  The break from this routine was only slightly welcome. After a morning of translation work I was escorted down to another training room. This one had bigger cage doors on the far side of the containment pit. The table also was not in a good position to see over the edge of the wall with, placed closer to the door. A bow with quiver still waited for me as I was locked in.

  I got ready but I doubted I would be dealing with anything like the rabbits the last two times I dealt with this sort of thing. The last group of rabbits had not been as rage filled as the first. They had orange rather than red growths on their bodies that burst into flames. The smell in the air was somewhat the same, the odd plant odor I had come to associate with the infected.

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  I swallowed, readying an arrow as the bars on the far wall slid down. Instead of a normal creature though a hillsec slithered out. This one had red scales but was covered in weird green lumps and tendrils. It screamed in either pain or rage, thrashing and looking up at the interior window near the ceiling. It even gestured with one malformed hand up at Astaril.

  Horror seized my gut. Killing rabbits was one thing. I did that for food. Killing rabbits who wanted to kill me was also easy. But this, this was a person. A very sick but clearly still aware person and it cause me to lower the bow.

  “You have your orders Ramjack. The testing must go on. He is beyond help and serves now only as a test subject. Refuse this and it won’t be you joining his fate, you are too valuable to me right now. But you don’t need both of your playmates.”

  He did not need to say the rest. Shaking, I threw up. I couldn’t help it or the tears that burned at my eyes as I lifted the bow once more. If it was just me, just my life on the line I would have refused this. But I couldn’t take chances, not with Mildred and Camphus. The man roared out frustration, turning towards me and hissing. It looked like he was exhaling some kind of spore cloud from his face as he looked me dead in the eyes.

  I did not want to do it, but I think this guy would have if our places had been reversed. It didn’t sooth my conscience as I fired arrows at him. It took more than one, and each time he released clouds of something. A fine green mist before he finally dropped.

  I dropped too, letting go of the bow and just laying on the cold stone floor. Tears dripped into my fur. I didn’t know if that fire creature a few weeks ago was a person or not, no way to tell. But this had been. On top of that I had the strange feeling that it might have been the guy who had the job before me. The way he had raged at the researcher. I really did not want to be here to see what a new form this infection might take.

  ————————

  I was on the bed when they found me. That’s where the guards had dumped me after the testing. I was curled up, ears flat and tail tucked and it seemed to scare my cell mates.

  “Ramjack?” Mildred ventured. I felt her hand touch my back and my ears twitching, I pulled my head up to peer at them. “What happened?” She asked. I found human faces hard to read because they were flat. She didn’t have movable ears or a sail of any kind that could show off her mood. The way she was biting her lip though made me think she was concerned.

  “They… they made me kill someone.” I whispered, looking away and sniffling, “Threatened to do to one of you what they did to them if I didn’t.” My ears flattened again and I hugged my legs.

  There was silence in the room for what felt like a minute but the hand stayed in place. Another hand came, Camphus’s, and patted as well. “Do you want to talk about it?” The aulterun shopkeeper asked.

  “No.” I replied honestly, ears going up again. My nose twitched with the scent of cooked meat. Usually I notice that even before they get to the room but I had been so lost in my own mind that it only now registered. “Is it… is it dinner time?”

  “Yea.” Mildred confirmed. “Come on. You need to keep your strength up.” Her voice was soft, gentle. Probably gained from being a mom.

  I didn’t want to get up. Any more than the level I gained after I passed out earlier. Level 4 [Hunter] with an [Unerring Shot] skill. I could have simply not chosen anything and not leveled but it was selfish not to get a skill that could help just because I felt like I didn’t deserve it. Same now as I forced myself out of bed and to the corner where we had been taking our meals. I needed to eat, to keep myself strong enough for the same reason.

  “Look,” Mildred started when we were halfway done with our meat, “We need to get out of this place soon even if it kills us. I’m sure this has already occurred to you Ramjack but they’re just going to keep using us to make you do things you don’t want to and I hate feeling so helpless, to be used as a pawn.”

  Camphus hooted in agreement. “Same, but Mildred, I don’t have hatchlings to get home to and you do. You don’t do anything to put yourself in danger unless something has already happened to me, you hear?”

  I looked up at Camphus then. I hadn’t known the woman very long but her bravery was impressive. Mildred’s too. I didn’t want anything to happen to either of them. “If you can hide yourself somewhere,” I told them, “That would be an asset. Or at least, find places you think you can hide. I don’t know when they might try and make me kill an infected person again…”

  “Can the infection be cured?” Camphus spoke up.

  “I… well, I know the first stage can be. The researcher knows the magic to heal that. Not sure about the other stages. I think the head cleric, the guy who leads this cult, might be able to. Not sure what they are doing letting it progress.”

  “To set loose on others I’m guessing.” Mildred bit hard into her piece of meat, swallowing before she continued, “Set the infected loose in Dacathus and watch the chaos?”

  A shiver went through my body. That hadn’t even occurred to me. “I’ll… I’ll try and find out more about the infection. Maybe try to be helpful in other ways to the researcher. Pretend I follow his vision?”

  “You’ve said you’re not a good liar.” Camphus pointed out.

  “No,” I agreed, reaching up to rub my ears. Hillsec could see ear tells with ease. They had neck sails that also showed off such things. “But I am interested, just not in the ways he might be thinking. That is different from actually lying.”

  Mildred actually laughed at that. “I think my kids would love to use that line.” She even smiled for a moment. It faded before she went back to her meal.

  ————————

  Raven and her team had spent a few days watching the comings and goings from the stone structure. It was the base for a cult so they had taken to calling it ‘The Temple’. The guild had assured them that two additional teams were on the way via the message notebook.

  Several groups of hillsec left the temple each day, wearing robes trimmed in brown. Sometimes members with no trim stood at the only entrance and just seemed to be watching the woods for a while before retreating inside. No one was ever seen coming into the grass where the adventurers were camped.

  “That weird light is in the sky again.” Jace said one night on watch. Raven lifted herself out of her dose and went to look with him. From the top of the temple, the tower with the windows, a beam of white light shot out into the sky. It had happened several times now, but not every evening since they got here. None of them knew what it meant.

  “I wonder what they are doing.” Raven sighed but took note of it in her log. She was too far away to get any magic read of it with her skills.

  “I don’t like it.” Jace sighed and looked down at her from his perch. “Concerned about tomorrow?”

  “We have to test their reactions before more of the guild get here. We have seen the hunters split up before but so far all their hunters have returned. We need to capture one for interrogation anyway and it will test just how they react if one doesn’t return.”

  Jace nodded. “Needs to be done. I haven’t had to hold a prisoner before though.”

  “Mazen has. We have the spot to hold them picked out already in case the rest of the hunters can track them.”

  “And I am going to be holding the fort here correct?”

  “Yes. If something goes wrong for Mazen and I you will be the point of contact with the guild.” Raven settled back down for sleep. It was fitful as her duty was not going to be pleasant. A cult was not like a bandit camp where everyone was willing to gut you for change. It was possible that these hunters had no idea about the demon attack or the potentially kidnapped people and could just be out there getting food for everyone. Having to take one hostage and get them to talk did not feel good to her.

  Mazen was the one to poke her awake in the morning. She hadn’t even realized she’d been able to sleep so just blinked up at his beak-like reptilian face. “Hmmm?”

  “Time to eat.” He informed her, offering a bag of mixed nuts and dried fruits off his hook. “You and I have a job to do.”

  She took the offering, pushing herself up to sit. Jace was curled in the corner half buried by his bedroll snoring lightly. “Yea, we do Maz.”

  As much as she hated leaving Jace alone, with the door they rigged up on the first day there he was perfectly safe. At worst some rats would come investigate him but likely not even that.

  After quickly getting her morning needs finished and cleaned up a bit away from their main camp she and the chelkren headed off to the woods. First was to see if anyone had found their secret camp in the forest off to the south. It didn’t look disturbed. Next was to go to the spot they had picked out the day before where they had seen lone hunters linger in. They just had to be ready to spring their trap and hope they could keep the hillsec quiet.

  This could so easily go bad for both them and the hunter. Raven was ready for that. She centered herself and breathed, calming her mind and nerves as they waited. It was nearly two hours before their desired prey wandered in. Possibly they same hillsec they had spied on previously in this area.

  The cultist had their head down, bow slung on their back alongside their quiver. They didn’t see the chelkren still in the bush, blending in with the darker greens. They didn’t see the paracrest who had managed to climb into the tree using sturdy lower branches and her [Body Adept] skills. They were caught off guard when they chelkren circled their lower body with a rope and the paracrest jumped onto them.

  The hillsec tried to send out a cry of alarm but Raven was there, wadding a cloth into their mouth and tying it back around their sails. The eyes spoke of panic but she had to push the thought aside as she helped Mazen secure their prisoners arms and carry them off towards their secret camp.

  The hillsec was still squirming when they got there. They didn’t stop till Mazen switched out his hook for a sharp blade and leveled it at the hunter’s throat. Raven stepped in front, waiting until the prisoner’s eyes were on her instead and nodded. “I’m going to take the gag out so we can speak. We should be far enough away that no one will hear you anyway.”

  The eyes, wide with terror, kept focus on her as she removed the cloth. A hissing whimper came from the mouth but they didn’t scream. They seemed to be trying to hold still.

  “What is your name?” She asked.

  The eyes still held fear but there was no response. Just whimpering. Mazen leaned in close to the hillsec and whispered, “I would answer her if I were you.”

  The hillsec responded then, but not in any way Raven understood. A series of words, none of which were in the common tongue, flooded out. She sighed and looked at Mazen. “Please take the sword off their throat. I don’t think they can understand us.”

  Mazen grunted and pulled the weapon away. “What do we do then? We can’t turn them loose.”

  “No, but we can keep them here. Someone has to know what they are saying and we can figure out if they can be turned loose later.”

  The hillsec seemed young in her eyes. Not a child exactly but she wasn’t sure they were an adult either. It made her sick to her stomach as she secured their restraints around a tree. They could bring them back to camp at night if the other hunters or people from the temple didn’t find them.

  She came to a decision. “Maz, can you go back to camp and watch with Jace? See what happens when they notice this one is gone?”

  “Will you be ok here on your own?”

  “Yes. I don’t think this one will give me trouble.”

  He gave a look that caused the prisoner to whimper again before departing through the woods, leaving the two alone.