A new cry pierced the darkness. Elemiah was courageously walking in the front, sword in hand, lighting up the surroundings. The rest of the group followed him, weapons out for those who had one, glancing around them worriedly. Most of them had never fought in real conditions before falling in these undergrounds. And even for the most seasoned ones, hearing someone yell in pain was a nerve wracking experience. Especially for this long. It sounded like something was taking its sweet time making its victim suffer instead of killing them outright. What kind of hidden horrors could inflict such vile torture?

The aasimar’s halo ended up illuminating something other than stone: what looked like the ruins of a tower which had fallen down on its side. Another sign of civilization. But still no civilization strictly speaking.

- We’ll take refuge here, Séliss said. From there, we’ll-

- Who goes there!? a masculine voice interrupted her.

Celia, Séliss, Konrad, Elemiah and Ashtor immediately adopted the on guard position. Everyone stared at the voice’s origin. The light just barely allowed them to distinguish two vaguely humanoid silhouettes, perched on top of what was left of the tower’s wall.

- Archers, the tiefling indicated in a low voice, her eyes piercing the darkness unlike her comrades.

- I said: who goes there!? the voice repeated, imperious.

Séliss slowly raised her hands, plainly visible, to try and calm down their interlocutor, then moved forward. She stopped after some steps when she heard the creaking of an extending bow.

- Don’t move!

- Listen, if you don’t harm us, we won’t harm you, the summoner said. We’re just looking for a way back to Kenabres.

The two silhouettes looked at each other for a moment, plotting silently. Their thoughts got interrupted by a new cry coming from behind them, weaker this time. Celia shivered. Whoever were these strangers, these yells were tearing her heart apart. Taking her courage in her own hands, she also stepped forward, lowering her weapon while the archers pointed theirs in her direction.

- We followed the cries here, the huntress explained. Is one of you hurt? I can heal them!

There was a moment of complete silence for a few seconds which seemed like eternity. Everyone held their breath. The strangers did not seem fully convinced yet.

- My comrade is telling you the truth, Séliss continued. Look, we have our own wounded. We couldn’t even get close quickly enough to kill you before you put them down. Let us approach, and our healer will be able to take care of your friend.

The shadows looked at each other once again. Then one of them nodded.

- Come.

The silhouettes dropped behind the wall. Good, at least, they would not get killed right away.

- Let’s get outta here, Horgus whispered.

- If we were to do so, they would only have to hit us with an arrow once we turn our backs, Elemiah remarked while sheathing his sword.

- And and it’s an unprecedented chance to talk to these mole people! Aravashnial exclaimed.

Horgus wanted to object, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. He nonetheless had to accept his fate and follow the rest of the group that had stepped into an opening between the stones, preceded by an overexcited elf going on a monologue about people not believing him and how he then had proof of the existence of an underground civilization. May Asmodeus take these goddamn do-gooders and raving lunatics’ soul…

“Inside” the tower, broken bricks were mixed with rocks. Séliss stared at the two humanoid, baton in hand, tense. They had retreated behind boulders, cleverly staying just at the light’s edge, making them hardly discernible for the group and allowing them to take advantage of the cover. They were still holding them in their sight. If they finally decided to attack them, the group would be at a severe disadvantage.

The pale arm of one of the archers entered into the light, pointing at a little hill of stones on top of which sat an impressive looking boulder. The archer’s voice rose once again:

- Our comrade is stuck under this, he explained. We tried everything we could to get him out of this, but…

Celia was already starting to dash to the rocks’ pile, but Séliss stopped her by blocking her path with her arm. The huntress looked at the summoner, confused, but the latter was still staring at the silhouettes, suspicious.

- If we help you, you’ll cease to menace us with your bows, she said in a cold voice, more like an order than a demand. If you try anything funny, we’ll kill your friend. Understood?

An awkward silence fell on the scene while everybody was glaring at the tiefling, shocked. The rescue mission had turned into a hostage situation.

- Understood, the stranger ended up responding.

Celia, Konrad and Elemiah stepped forward to the rocks and started their search. Celia was the first to find the wounded person, showing the other two an arm that stuck out of a pile of rocks and fabric, covering the poor man. They feared the worst at first, but, fortunately, a shiver of the fingers and a yelp of pain indicated them that he was still alive, but weak.

Elemiah and Konrad placed themselves on each side of the bigger boulder which was pushing on the whole structure and tried to lift it. Celia got onto her knees, taking the hand of the trapped stranger in her own to try to reassure him. The two men pulled, pulled, but nothing could be done: the stone refused to be lifted more than a few millimeters, making its moving impossible and making the unfortunate person yell from the pain due to the difference in pressure once again. After multiple tiresome tries, they had to give up.

- By all the demons in the Abyss! Elemiah cursed. We cannot move this wretched boulder!

- T-there must be something we can do! yelped Celia, starting to panic. We won’t let them like that!?

Konrad looked around him, scanning the room. As well as old wall coverings, the floor was littered with broken wood; some beams that were probably used to reinforce the tower’s structure. The collapsing was recent, since someone was stuck under it. It must have been some good quality wood to have hold out until then… Maybe…

Ah ha!

Konrad jumped to the other side of the room. He took some times to make rocks roll over, before lifting what had attracted his attention: an enormous wooden beam, in an almost perfect state, which must have fallen once the other beams supporting it had given way.

- El! the young man called. Grab this stone and put it next to Celia!

The aasimar complied, not sure of what his friend wanted to do. He grabbed a big rock and put it where Konrad had asked him. The latter got closer with his beam and put it askew, putting it on the rock Elemiah had brought.

- Okay, El. Now, go to the other side of the rock, Konrad continued to explain. When I tell you, push over here, and make sure it ain’t falling.

Elemiah nodded and went into position. The brawler breathed out deeply. Let’s hope his idea would work.

- Ready? he asked.

The soldier acquiesced.

- Now!!

The aasimar pushed with all his might and the human pressed all his weight on the other end of the beam. Understand what they were trying to do, Celia rushed to help Konrad. The ear-splitting cries of pain and distress started once again. Their muscles squeaked. Their arms, their fingers, their joints were hurting. Sweat was rolling down their forehead. Their efforts were colossal. But they had to succeed. The life of this man was on the line.

Bit by bit, centimeter by centimeter, the boulder rose from the floor. Konrad’s heart almost skipped a beat when the wood started creaking in a sinister way. But the beam held steady. Once the boulder was at a nice height, Konrad made the makeshift lever turn on its axis, Elemiah following it, then let it go with a groan once the gigantic stone was far enough from the rubble.

It only took a few seconds for the trio to clear out what was left of the pile of fallen rocks. When the man got entirely out of the debris, Celia put her hands on his biggest wound with no hesitation and chanted. The rescued man’s body was covered with a lot of injuries who were no longer pressed on by the rocks’ weight and were bleeding profusely. Energy seemed to flow through the huntress’s fingers and seep through the unfortunate one’s wounds. It looked like small filaments trying to stitch his flesh. The hemorrhage quickly stopped, but the man was still far from safe and his wounds could reopen if he pushed himself too hard.

The group could finally take some time to observe the one they saved. And Anevia, Elemiah, Konrad and Horgus were more than shocked by what they saw. It was not a human in front of them, nor any other known race. His torso and one of his arms were those of a human, yes. But his other arm was replaced by a giant crab pincer, his face was the one of some sort of hairy short-snout dog, and his scaly legs looked like bird legs.

The two other strangers approached, entering in the light as well, bow still pointed at the group. They looked like strange chimeras as well, between humans and animals. The first one to come closer was a man, tall and lean, whose face’s first half was the one of an elegant elf with a horn and a goat’s ear, and the other the one of a lizard-man with a piercing yellow eye. He was followed by what looked like an impossibly hunchbacked woman whose upper body and face were almost entirely covered in tumors restraining her movements; but not enough to prevent her from using a bow.

The man-goat-lizard gazed at his dog-faced comrade. The latter was breathing calmly, half unconscious. He was holding Celia’s hand, his own trembling, the woman sat next to him. Out of energy, the healer could sadly not do better and they would have to let him heal naturally. After he was sure that his friend would be safe, the hybrids’ leader lowered his weapon, quickly imitated by the tumor woman.

- You don’t seem like one of them, and you aren’t one of us, he said. Who are you? And how did you get here?

The surface’s visitors explained to the undergrounds’ inhabitants what had happened to them. That they were coming from Kenabres, that they fell into the undergrounds during a demonic raid on the city, and that they were then looking for a way to go back home. The hybrids looked agitated when they mentioned demons.

After hearing their story, the two bowmen got away to speak among themselves, before coming back after a few moments. The lizard-faun spoke up:

- Our chief will probably be interested by your story. Since you saved Crel, he’ll maybe be okay with you taking a break at our village. Follow us.

A giant smile crossed Aravashnial’s face, like the one of a kid in front of a mountain of birthday gifts.

- This is the best day of my life, he screeched.