Deathrender Initiative: Mierling Keep

“And until our breath grows cold, on this the day of our reckoning, we stand bone and blade, against the rising thrall.

Our time may be but of brittle earth, but our unity will be the cinders that ignite the flames of freedom.”

-Ardalei Bandelreyn, Deathrender Combat Agent 00001

CHAPTER I: Mierling Keep

He awoke as he had always done in the past. Torn from the throes of a chaotic nightmare. These phantasmagoria that have plagued him since he was but a small child had burned a sort of complacent fearlessness in him. He let out a sharp sigh as he came to grips with the reality around him. A cold and unfamiliar barracks surrounding him. The sleeping bodies of strangers just inches from his own. Several drawn- out, and staggered breaths ringing from them, like the imminent call of war drums. He hated the breathing. He swore that one day it would drive him to madness long before the lingering threat of the Thrall could do so. He sat up in his bed and checked the time. 0345. In less than an hour, a wake up call would be issued to all agents in the bunker.

“Best to get a head start”, he told himself as he haphazardly threw his blanket off of himself. As he wearily clambered down the ladder, he caught a glimpse of his still-snoozing bunkmate. Something seemed off about him. A small voice chimed in as he completed his descent from the top bunk.

“Agent Yunvae, you’re up early”.

The voice belonged to the small yet sprightly Nika Kurokana.

“I told you, you can just call me Aldra”, he responded.

She rolled her eyes at him as a small smile creeped across her face.

Aldra Yunvae was always awake before the rest of his platoon. That was until Nika Kurokana was transferred to the squadron. In the wee hours, the two would exchange words in a variety of topics. None more so prominent than the dealings with the Thrall. Nika had told Aldra that she harbored speculation about the Thrall conjuring his nightmares. Aldra merely dismissed the notion with a small wave of his hand and would set into his explanation.

“I’ve had these nightmares ever since I was young. Long before I joined the Initiative”.

She would chuckle half- heartedly and respond with the same

“Whatever you say, dude. I still think it beyond coincidence”

Aldra had always thought the nightmares stemmed from an unresolved internal issue, though he could never quite thumb the culprit. He wasn’t raised in a harsh environment. In fact his upbringing was was rather cushy. His parents weren’t affluent by any means, but both had internal affairs with DRAIDA, which saw to their comfort and stability. The relationship they developed with the aforementioned consort, was the reason Aldra had been able to join the Initiative. He figured that the nightmares may have found their roots in his disdain for being handed opportunities. He however dismissed this possibility as he hand’t ever been handed anything as a young child. He often had to work for the things he wanted. Often more than when he grew older, which was a strange thought for him. He gave up his pondering as he approached the latrines. He looked in the mirror and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. A testament to the hard work he had been putting into the initiative. Him and his platoon, were the frontline left flank attack force in the battle against the Thrall, a gruesome race of unknown origin. Many theorized that they were born from the pits of hell. Others believed they were a collective of alien races that hailed from the cosmos beyond the sky. One thing that was agreed upon, was how terrifying they were. Glowing yellow eyes surrounded by seemingly irradiated and melting flesh. They were creatures of speed that used protruding bones as high velocity weaponry. Their presence could conjure fear in the eyes of even the most Valiant.

Aldra’s platoon leader, Deathrender Combat Agent 3391, Sivian Granbelle, was one such man. Aldra had recounted working three separate missions with Commander Granbelle and had never once caught him faltering in the midst of combat…

That was until the battle of the Mierling Keep.

Aldra had been part of a small assembly, sent forth to scout out nearby cave systems. The idea was to flush out any enemy forces seeking to ambush the squadron as they made their way to a new military outpost. The enemy was the Agaralon. A group of Ex- DRAIDA soldiers who went rogue, and decided to fight back. Aldra was joined by Commander Granbelle, Agent Garo Li’than, and Agent, Kaio Imora. Aldra had always admired the strong demeanor of his superior and often found solace and security in Granbelle’s confidence. Aldra felt he could follow Granbelle into the pits of hell and return with is life. He didn’t know much about the other two, however. Kaio Imora was a new recruit, with only two weeks separating her from her training and her first campaign on the field. Garo Li’than wasn’t quite as green, but Aldra knew that he had only landed this job due to his close relationship with Commander Granbelle.

“Pathetic”, Aldra thought to himself, as the musky dampness of the caves filled his nostrils. As the darkness consumed them, Aldra felt as though something was trying to tell him to turn back. A sickly feeling gnawed at the pit of his stomach. He assumed that the harness, tightening around his torso might be the catalyst for this unexpected nausea, and the thought was quickly excused. As they approached the ground of the cave system, Garo switched on 4 high powered flashlights. Aldra seeing the danger they could pose, immediately ran over and threw himself over the lights, switching them off one by one.

“Are you completely brain-dead, Li’than?!” He harshly whispered. “We are down here to ensure there are no enemy scouts trying to rout us. You turn these on, you might as well paint targets on our heads, jackass”

Without a word, Garo sheepishly returned the flashlights to his travel pack before responding.

“Well how are we gonna see now, genius?”

Aldra remained quiet and got down on his hands and knees. He began feeling around the ground blindly until he felt something. Something cold and fleshy. He placed both hands on the object and began smiling.

“With these”, Aldra replied. “Imora, hand me a match”.

“Did you find what I think you found?” Commander Granbelle pipped.

“Not sure, only one way to find out”, Aldra said.

As Kaio struck the match, Aldra held his hand out for it and brought it down to where the cold, fleshy object was. The soft flickering light of the match danced off what appeared to be a mushroom like growth.

“It’s a Thermatospore”, Aldra stated. “They are reactive to heat. Bring a match close and watch… the magic”

As the lick of the flames brushed the peculiar fungus, it lit up in a luminous blue tone, as did all the other ones surrounding it.

As a child, Aldra always used to find Thermatospores in the forest near his home. After the night was through he remembered leaving the entire thing glowing an ominous blue.

“They’re bioluminescent”, Commander Granbelle said gruffly. “Well done Yunvae!” He added.

“This way we have a view of a path without drawing unwanted attention or gunfire our way”, Aldra assured the group.

“We stick together, that’s an order!” Granbelle barked. “Wouldn’t want anyone to get lost in the dark down here”

The group pressed on in silence. The echoing drip of distant water rung through the caves. Aldra thought it was funny how the sound of something so small could be amplified to such a degree. As they made occasional stops, Aldra could also hear the incessant sound of breathing, amplified much like the drops of water. He had been anxious about it as he feared it could give away their position to any potential threats, but he kept his qualms to himself.

“Probably overthinking it”, he said to himself quietly.

“Overthinking what, Agent?”, Granbelle inquired.

Aldra realized that even the quietest utterances could not be hidden from the wandering ears of the caves.

“Nothing Commander, my apologies”

“We are primed for the ambush of the Keep.” Granbelle started/

“In 45 minutes we will be taking the hold for DRAIDA. I can’t afford mistakes from the mere fact that something was the product of overthinking.”

Aldra signed and shred his misgiving with Granbelle about the amplified sounds in the cave. Aldra thought he was being stupid, but much to his surprise, Granbelle had actually responded positively to the concern and ordered everyone to breathe through rags to quell the noise. With the breathing stifled, the drip of water continued. It’s pace had quickened slightly. This would not escape the prying ears of Aldra Yunvae.

“Commander, do you hear that?” Aldra asked, as the sound increased velocity once again.

“The water? Yes.”

“Can you tell me why-“

“Its speed is increasing? There’s only one way to find out.”

The group pushed onwards towards the monotonous dripping. As they zeroed in on the source the dripping had essentially evolved into a steady flow. Aldra had been apprehensive about approaching the anomalous sounds, but pressed on. Though their combat boots were made of a sound suppressant rubber, the quiet echo of footssteps still followed them as they trudged through the innumerable passages in the caves. Occasionally, they would stop so that Aldra could heat up another cluster of the bioluminescent fungi. Kaio Imora lingered above him and watched in admiration as he shook out the new match.

“Impressive”, she started. “What was it that inspired you to become a Deathrender Agent?”

Aldra gave her a half-invested side glance.

“Seemed a hell of a lot more interesting than sitting at home twiddling my thumbs”.

Kaio giggled softly as Aldra pressed onwards. As she caught up with him, he reciprocated the question, not entirely caring if he received an answer. He knew his rhetorical nature when it came to small talk was a trait he had wanted to work on, yet he knew the feat wasn’t something he could so easily gloss over.

“What about you Imora?’, he questioned in a flat tone.

“Well, my parents never really thought much of me. The only daughter in a family with 3 sons. All charismatic. All successful in their own rights. I kind of felt swept under the rug, you know? Anyways, I just wanted to prove myself somehow and…”

Her words trailed off as Alrda drowned them out. He wasn’t much for sympathizing. In fact the only thing he cared less about than sympathy, was listening to the cliche stories of new recruits. To abate any further conversation, he responded to her in a rather nonchalant manner.

“Parents are tough sometimes”.

The echoing sound of the water casting from a nearby chamber had since calmed. This did not bring relief to the team however, as they rounded the corner. There were no thermatospores in this chamber, but through the darkness, Aldra could swear that he saw a faint crimson coating the ground. The eerie sound of something sticky emanated from the ground anytime one of them took a step.

“Imora”, Commander Granbelle said. “Hand me a match”

As she shakily complied with the Commander’s request, a sharp inhale from Garo echoed of the cavernous walls of our rocky surroundings. Thier lingering fears had come full force in agonizing reality. The sticky substance endlessly pooling before thier feet was blood, and in copious supply. Thier breathing collectively softened as they scanned the area for the source. Initially, the squad couldn’t find anything. It would seem as though the blood was rising from the very floor itself.

“I don’t think I have to inform you to keep your guard up”, Granbelle said in a gruff tone.

As the group traversed the carnage filled chamber, they kept their ears open as best as possible for any anomalous sounds. As the match burned down to its base, the shape of an eviscerated corpse cut through the dying flicker of the tiny flame. The remnants of torn fabric told Aldra that the deceased was a member of the Agaralon defectors. Aldra felt a lump growing in his throat as his heat began to race. He held his breath as he brought his attention upwards. Blood had. Been trickling down the walls at a liberal pace, confirming the earlier source of the dripping.

“My God”, whispered Agent Imora. “It was an absolute slaughter”… Aldra could feel the unease shaking through her voice. As he looked over he could see Garo frozen in abstract terror, unable to formulate words.

“The question is, who did the slaughtering?”, replied Granbelle. DRAIDA intel had expressed that no other potential enemy had made a pass at claiming the Keep from the Agaralon. Aldra pondered the possibilities.

“Perhaps it was an internal conflict. A mutiny within the ranks”, he suggested.

As the group examined the eviscerated remains, they began hearing a disgruntled shuffling from further down the corridor. Granbelle abruptly hushed any murmuring and cast his light towards the source. A chill ran down Aldra’s spine as he saw an arm disappear around the corner. Another body, but this one was being dragged by… something. Granbelle slowly panned his light down and the distinct pattern of a body being dragged through blood seemed to lead right to were Aldra spotted the moving arm. As Granbelle killed his light, he let out a long- drawn sigh.

“What the hell was that?!”, Garo whisper-yelled. “We need to get the hell out of here!”

“Would you stifle yourself, agent?”, Granbelle retorted. “We have no idea what that thing was or if it’s planning on making a hasty return. Keep your mouths shut. Back out slowly”.

Aldra promptly followed command. He knew that the commander would attempt to radio the surface troops. Aldra began running scenarios through his head, planning several counter-attacks, should the group run into trouble. His thoughts were severed by several sharp, inconsistent breaths. It was Kaio. She was in a state of panic. Aldra could tell she was attempting to control her breathing, but she was incredibly green when it came to field work.

“Imora”, He started. “Remember your exercises. I know that this is not ideal, but you knew what field work is like. You graduated due to your grit and resolve. Now I know that’s still in you, but we have to move. Control yourself.”

She looked him dead in the eyes, and he could have sworn he saw something limber up in her. She nodded and clutched her rifle tighter before choking out a single word.

“Right”.

The group made their way out of the cavern and back towards the entrance where Garo, began questioning the call issued by Commander Granbelle.

“Commander, forgive me, but don’t you think we could have eliminated the threat? I mean, the two bodies down there were Agaralon. M-maybe it was one of our guys?”

“Everyone understood the assignment, Agent Li’than. While you are rather perceptive of the Agaralon uniform, perhaps you should have taken a look around the room. There were bodies counting well into the forties”.

Aldra’s blood ran cold. He hadn’t thought to further scan the room. How could he have missed a body count that high? He feared that terror had gripped him and cost him to lose his edge. This wasn’t a mistake he could permit himself to make. He was furious that he could lump himself in with the greenhorns.

“Besides, if you would have used your eyes like you were trained to do so, you’d know that at least ten of them were DRAIDA operatives… meaning that they were dragged down here.”, continued Granbelle.

“My apologies, Commander. What do you think it means?”

“Don’t know.. but it puts a wrench in the plan.” Granbelle pulled out his radio once the group was far enough away from the main chamber to call out to the commander of the surface battalion.

“Lieutenant Tirafel, please radio progress”, he said into the radio. A chilling static echoed back, but no voices came through. Kaio Imora sheepishly uttered another single word.

“Commander?”

Aldra could see the rage boiling up in Granbelle before he ordered the group topside to aid the fighters on the surface. As the group made their way back further towards the entrance, Aldra perpetuated his disbelief in his gross oversight. As the tactician it was his job to absorb details of an environment. He gritted his teeth as they slowly trudged through the darkness. How had the Commander remained so calm at the sight of the numerous bodies, let alone possess the capacity to count them like they were just pieces of litter on the ground?

“I don’t get it”, Aldra said out loud.

“What was that, Yunvae?”, Granbelle responded.

Aldra couldn’t even control his thoughts. He had spoken out loud and never intended to.

“Nothing, Commander. I-it’s nothing”

“Good. Keep your mind clear, we don’t know what we are walking into. Rifles at the ready”

All complied as they reached the opening to the cave systems. Immediately, Garo knelt down with his hand on a nearby rock and began vomiting. Through the heaving sounds, Granbelle spoke once more.

“Well that’s peculiar”

Aldra picked out the anomaly right away as he clutched his rifle tighter.

“What’s wrong, Commander?”, asked Garo.

“Listen. What do you hear?”, Granbelle replied.

“Nothing.”

Aldra could see a light bulb switch on in Garo’s eyes as he wiped the vomit off his lips.

“Not a skirmish to be heard. Not a sound. Not a breath.”

It was evident that Commander Granbelle was worried. Something had gone horribly wrong inside the compound. The aria of gunfire should have been lighting up the night sky, but instead the group were greeted with an ominous and unsteady wind. Something about it tasted stale to Aldra, who was rather certain he had pieced everything together. Something else was lurking inside the walls of Mierling Keep, and it unlike the Agaralon, it did not discriminate when it came to enemies. Something far more sinister was in store for the small battalion, and Aldra could sense it.

“What could decimate an entire DRAIDA platoon?” He asked himself. He racked his brain but no recorded threats came to mind. He rubbed the barrel of his rifle nervously. His hands were sweating, and an overwhelming headache began washing over him. It looked as though, whatever was affecting him was also influencing his group.

“Ah, my head”, whined Kaio. The four pushed on towards the main door of the keep which had been forced open by the main attack squadron before them. The ominous wind had grown into a howl as they passed through its mighty threshold. It was here that Aldra had noticed there was no evidence of a battle. No bullet casings lined the ground, no bodies were present. However there were numerous spots in the dirt that appeared to soak in a biblical amount of blood. Aldra dropped down on one knee to inspect a plot of earth that had appeared to engorge itself on said blood. As he scrutinized the area, he finally brought a finger down to feel it.

“This blood has been here a good, long while. It doesn’t belong to our guys. It’s far too saturated into the ground to have been a recent struggle, but whatever did this, did it quickly and silently.”, he concluded. He could see Garo out of the corner of his eye going pale once again.

“Li’than if you throw up again, I swear I’ll come over there and kill you myself.”

“C’mon man, you’re seeing the same thing I am aren’t you?”, Garo complained.

“If you thought this gig didn’t include blood then you have severely wasted our time”, Aldra barked.

“That’s enough Yunvae”, Granbelle commanded. “Everyone’s gotta start somewhere, and while we are on the topic, do I need to bring up how many times you up-chucked in training?”

Aldra felt a heat-wave of embarrassment flow over him as Garo snorted. Aldra snapped. He got up from his position on the ground and tackled Garo over.

“You wanna laugh at me you piece of shit?! How about I feed you your fucking fingers?!”

Garo, in disbelief threw is hands up

“Chill man, we are in the middle of a directive. Damn.”

“DAMMIT YUNVAE, GET THE FUCK OFF HIM BEFORE I DEAL WITH YOU MYSELF!”

Aldra had never heard Granbelle shout so aggressively before. He stepped away to cool off as he uttered “Stupid fucking kid” under his breath.

“Need I remind you that we have no comms with the main battalion and that we could very well be on our own out here?” Granbelle continued “I brought you on this expedition because I thought you could be of use to the new recruits. Was I wrong in my assessment?”

“No sir.”

Then use your fucking head before trying to over shadow the potential loss of our entire troop with a petty squabble. Keep your damn ego in check! Compare your cocks on your own time. Am I understood?!”

“Yes sir.”

He then directed his attention to Kaio

“Thank the Gods we have at least one level-headed agent here. Thank you Imora. Thank you for not existing to get on my last damn nerve”

“Uh… No problem, Commander”, she replied.

Aldra retracted before Granbelle gave the order to keep moving.

“Well hopefully this idiot hasn’t given away our position and we can move ahead into the next chamber.”

A twinge of guilt shocked Aldra. What an embarrassment that exchange had been. He never intended to upset the commander, but he felt that Garo got what he deserved, so he pressed forward with an inconspicuous grin on his face. As the group passed through the next doorway, they were once again dropped into a room filled with carnage. This time however, the blood was fresher. A couple fires burned, refracting the air against the night sky in a sort of chaotic volatility. Something else was wrong here. Aldra had cast his attention to the nearby concrete wall on his right and notice that some sort of unexplainable substance was growing from the vents below. The tendrils looked almost arboreal in nature, as though they had grown from a sub-terrestrial meat Borg. They appeared to pulsate ever so slightly. The group looked on in disgust and awe as the moonlight reflected of of their glistening surface. As they scrutinized the peculiar life form, a rattling breath echoed from behind them.

“Si…vi…an”, it called out, chillingly. Aldra could see that the Commander almost refused to turn around. Only one member of the Hollow Corps was permitted to call him by his first name.

“No”, Granbelle whispered shakily. As he brought his head around to scout the source of the noise, Aldra’s head followed suit. The skinned legs and feet of a soldier lay behind a slab of stone that had fallen from one of the pillars holding up the surrounding roof of the Keep. As the group made their way over to it, Aldra was paralyzed by the sight of the fellow. The vast majority of his skin had been removed. From his feet all the way up to his head, exposed muscle convulsed to the slightest gust of wind. The left half of his top lip all the way up to his hairline had remained attached, but appeared to be quickly necrotizing. He was completely and utterly unrecognizable to everyone present. To everyone, that is except for Commander Granbelle.

“I-Indra. What the hell happened up here?”

Lieutenant Tirafel gurgled out his next words. It sounded as though he was choking on blood.

“C-c-commander. Y- you need to l-l-l….LEAVE.”

He shouted the last word of the sentence throwing blood across the dirt. It was incredibly disturbing to witness.

“I c-can feel m-myself rotting.” This had been the most disturbing utterance yet. Aldra could not make heads or tails of what had befallen the misfortunate Lieutenant.

Indra spoke once more

“I… I- I’m ch-changing!”, he shouted before throwing up an alarming amount of blood. The muscles exposed to the outside world seeming had begun rotting as necrotized fluid began spilling out from between the fibers. The smell was putrid and all Aldra could do was look on in horror as this man who was still alive practically rotted to death.

“AAAHH, IT H-HURTS. GODS I-I-IT HU-URTS! KI…LL ME… P-PLEASE.”

After what felt like hours of agonizing torment, he seemed to become still. However, in place of a dying breath, a ghastly screech emanated forth from his lungs. His eyes began to change to a sickly yellow-orange as his bones began snapping and contorting in countless inhuman ways. He was… getting up. Aldra could see that Granbelle wasn’t moving. He was frozen in shock.

“Commander!”, bellowed Garo as he brought his rifle into firing position. “Commander get out of the way!”

The commander hadn’t shifted his gaze from the ground where his comrade was just laying. A grotesque beast now stood over him growling the way great beast would. Exposed bone sharper than steel protruded from the newly desiccated flesh. With a final ear-shattering screech, Aldra knew that the worst had yet to come. Another screech from a western corridor reached them. Garo began opening fire on the now mutated corpse of Indra Tirafel. With blinding speed, the creature lunged at him. Garo leapt out of harms way and continued firing. Aldra too raised his weapon and added surpassing fire.

“Protect the Commander!”, He shouted, which appeared to snap Kaio Imora back to reality. As she began firing, Aldra could hear rumbling paired with sickening snarls approach from the rear. He spun around to see a second creature cantering into the room. He began firing at the new threat but as he ran towards it he slipped in the guts of a fallen Hollow Corps agent. In the brief second it took him to recover from the fall, he saw the dead fear that had adhered itself to his fallen friend’s face. His final moments were clearly that of pure terror. Aldra stood up and continued firing. Out of his peripherals he could see the blood and mud caking his hand as his rifle lit the air around it. He would not allow himself to die here, not until he had the answers he sought. A new shriek had sounded off but this time it was different. It sounded as though there was a choking succeeding it. It was also immediately followed by the yelling of Garo Li’than

“IMORA!”

Aldra whipped around to se the former body of Indra Tirafel put a shattered bone through the throat of Kaio Imora. Aldra could see the tears roll down her cheeks as her eyes rolled back and her tongue protruded out of her mouth. The creature forced it’s shattered arm bone through the right side of her neck, severing an artery. She was dead. Garo continued firing in a blind rage as the creature began to feed on her open neck eventually dropping her severed head to the ground. The bullets were doing nothing, and the Commander had barely moved a muscle. He appeared to be whimpering.

“Li’than! Get that thing over here! On me! On me!” Aldra had noticed that the heavy fire wasn’t slowing these things down, but the bullets were tearing countless holes in them. He had a rapid thought to shoot them in the eyes. Perhaps that would distract them long enough to get out of there. Aldra had already returned his attention to the other creature. With two well placed shots, he took out the eyes of the creature, who stumbled and began swinging its bone weapons wildly in all directions. It didn’t progress forward, and that was when Aldra took his chance. He began running the opposite direction towards Garo who had blatantly ignored his prior order. Aldra immediately had begun to fire at the second beasts eyes, however his shots were not connecting.

“Dammit, Li’than!” He muttered. He looked over once more at Granbelle who had finally started to look around the battlefield. His eyes were wide and vacant. Aldra was sure his soul had been torn from its body. With out a word, the commander brought up his rife and began firing staggered shots towards the creature. One of the bullets hit it just to the right of the left shoulder blade. It spun around and immediately began its rush towards the aloof Granbelle. In a split second, Aldra witnessed as the bone in it’s right arm cut clean through Granbelle’s left shoulder, severing his arm. The commander didn’t so much as wince. The same listless expression adorned his face as though it were something out of a photograph. He lifted his rifle with one arm and fired two shots into the creatures eyes, point blank. It too began flailing wildly. Garo ran in from the rear as he reloaded.

“Li’than! Stop!”

Before Garo could look over at Aldra, the blinded creature had made contact with his left eye. As soon as it felt the warm flesh of a living being, its senses sprung back to life. It turned around and grabbed Garo by the shoulders. He was already screaming in abject horror, as the second bone went in through his other eye. Finally, the beast grabbed the bottom half of his jaw with its own teeth and began tearing it away. Blood dripped ceaselessly into the dirt below as Garo hung nearly lifeless in the monster’s clutches. His tongue now dangled in the place where his jaw used to be. Aldra took aim and shot his final bullet into Garo Li’than’s head. He immediately radioed for a pick up.

“DRAIDA response, we have a 9109, requesting immediate extraction. Roughly twelve casualties.”

A pair of beeps came through the radio signaling that his request had been heard and a team had been dispatched to collect them. Aldra immediately grabbed Commander Granbelle, who had been firing and empty rifle for a few minutes at nothing. As he dragged his Commander to the front gate of the keep, he could see the incoming lights from a nearby DRAIDA reconnaissance team. He waved them down and pulled out what medical supplies he had on him. There weren’t nearly enough bandages to tourniquet the bleeding, so he also removed articles of his uniform to dress the wounds Granbelle had sustained. As the lights grew closer, Aldra tried to piece together what had just transpired. He had stopped on a remarkably grim thought.

“Are those things going to turn Imora and Li’than too?” There was no telling what these demons could do. Aldra shook violently as he maintained pressure on the wounds. The approaching vehicles slammed on their brakes and promptly threw the doors open. Inside, two men were waiting.

“What the fuck happened to you guys, oh my God.”, one of them uttered.

“We need medical right away. And whatever you do, DO NOT enter that Keep.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice”

Aldra could hear the other man over the radio, outlining the details of the rescue and the accounts of what Aldra had said when he radioed them in. His consciousness began to fade as he slumped over in the back seat, still holding

Commander Granbelle’s wounds.

THE END