Heading through the doorway, they faced only light resistance in the hallway beyond from those enemies who had been unable to retreat in time. Evidently, most of the enemy force had rushed as soon as they were out of sight of the entry chamber. With Lorag and Gallus leading the way, they followed the sounds of echoing footsteps to the end of the hall, where they finally found a staircase leading up to the next floor. It was a spiral staircase, and rather narrow, so they had Uthri and Kaleeth lead the way with shields. Lorag was expecting some kind of ambush, or at least a group at the top to trap them into the staircase, but once they were at the top, there was nothing. Evidently, the enemy had been in too much of a hurry to carry out such plans. 

The staircase led into the middle of a hallway that split in two opposite directions, and unfortunately, Lorag could see that there were enemies fleeing in both directions. He did not know why they were splitting up now, and not before, but there was certainly a reason behind it. Neither group looked larger than the other, but to their left, Lorag was sure he had seen the enemy officer that had been directing the soldiers in the previous room. 

Once other prides started coming up the staircase behind them, Lorag found one of Ri'vashi's officers and directed him to take charge of pursuing the enemy fleeing to the right. He intended to follow this enemy officer, as he was far more likely to be protecting something important; potentially the General himself. Lorag walked up beside Gallus with an intense look in his eyes. "If they're goin' to lead us to Do'rhajul, we're goin' to be the ones to find him. He's not gettin' away from me. They might try to keep splitting us up ahead, and we can't ignore anyone that might try to flank us, but I want us to stick together on this. I want a pack I can trust at my back to face him."

"Permission to join your packs?" A voice sounded from the stairway behind them. From the steady line of warriors climbing up the staircase, Ra'kalesh emerged and approached them. The leather armor protecting his torso before had been half burned away by the oil, so he had discarded it. As such, the burns on his back, shoulder, and upper arm were plainly visible. Large patches of his fur had been burned away, along with some of the flesh underneath, but the healers had given him their attention. There was no bleeding, and he did not seem to have trouble moving. The look in his eyes showed that he was obviously still in pain, but he was still in fighting shape. "Ra'kalesh has a...vested interest in seeing our enemy's General meet his well-deserved end."