[i]More coming.[/i] With the three of them, it was easy to deal with the men who had remained within this chamber, but Kire knew reinforcements were on the way. Just as she had anticipated, more men with blades came. Kire met them head-on. The first man to cross blades with her only stared in surprise as Kire, with the force of her dragon-strength, knocked his sword out of his hands before giving him an almighty blow, sending him crumpling to the ground. The others didn’t fare any better. One of them managed to get a slash in while Kire was preoccupied with two others, an attack she barely dodged. She felt the man’s weapon graze her cuirass, and in anger at having missed him, she turned and hacked off his limb right before finishing him off. 

After she had dealt with the last immediate threat, Kire took the keys to the cages from him and unlocked the nearest ones. She found the body of the other slaver who had another set and tossed that to Ysaryn. [i]Need to buy time.[/i] Kire headed for the empty cages and pushed them up against one entrance from where the reinforcements had come earlier.[i]There has to be another entrance here. The warehouse must have been for exits and disposals.[/i] She heard a gurgle and a cough; the older man, the one she had spoken to, was struggling despite his broken body to move. Kire bent over him, pressed a hand against his mangled chest. “Where’s the other entrance?” She pressed harder, making the man cry weakly in pain. “Quickly.” The man lifted a trembling, feeble hand back out at the arena, towards another passage that led out of it, from where some of the men they had killed today came. “Will that take us to the mines? Or Itallo’s manor?” The man merely barked out a bloody laugh. Kire’s lip curled in distaste as she stood up, glancing at her two companions. “He’s all yours,” she said, turning away to count how many captives they were dealing with.

“Ysaryn, how many can you take to safety, how many times without exhausting yourself?” she asked while, as quickly as she could, she went among the women who were bound and tore their bindings loose. There were about a dozen that were outside the cages, the ones on the floor. Another dozen from the cages; they, at least, seemed like they could stand on their feet. As much as Kire wanted to help, she needed to reserve her dragon-strength, saving the portals for when things go dire for them. “Take the ones too drugged to move. The rest we’ll take with us down that way. Can you tell them to hold onto weapons?” she asked, gesturing to the men they had slaughtered. 

While Ysaryn Shadow-walked as much of the captives as she could, Kire guarded the entrance, partly barricaded with cages. Like an annoying itch, she could still feel the Gemini here, somewhere, and along that, Ruli’s signature. [i]Don’t die, you stubborn fool, or Envy won’t forgive me.[/i] More came their way, but hindered by the cages, Kire and Bolym would be able to pick them off. With captives, however, she knew the going would be slow, though she also hoped they all had the same fire as Ysaryn, now that they were being led to escape. The moment Ysaryn returned, Kire took a deep breath. [i]Here we go.[/i] 

Kire pushed over one of the cages, her Ring glinting, and it landed on some footmen that had been trying to shove their way in. She leapt at the next men, taking them down as fast as she could go, knowing they needed to protect more people now. Not fully trusting the dead man’s instructions, Kire ran ahead to scout. The path sloped upward; up ahead she could see the faint light of day, smell the sea—and hear slavers with wagons and horses. Faint traces of Gemini spellwork, too. She could see just enough of what lay beyond the entrance to have an idea what the surroundings might look like. There looked to be a path facing the sea and shielded by rock formations that would have made the way invisible to casual observers from the surface.

“Anyone there?” called one voice. Likely a ruse; Kire suspected these were slavers remained behind to wait by the entrance to slaughter those who came through.
She stepped backward, gestured behind her for the procession to stop. “I’ll draw them away. When you hear fighting, that’s your sign,” she whispered, before disappearing in a blue flash.
She reappeared in front of the entrance surrounded by men. As she had thought, they were waiting in the entrance. Kire didn’t linger long. She disappeared again, but when she appeared, the men would have had a dead body or two of their comrades thrown their way. Kire took advantage of their surprise to mow them down. [i]Three portals down.[/i] She would have to wait to use the next one.

--

Gavin didn’t need to be a sorcerer of any sort to know where the trouble was. The whole cavern had erupted in fighting, which told him there was more than one. [i]And the hunter is with them.[/i] He felt this in his marrow. Trusting Rab, Gavin followed him, and entered the scene to witness something extraordinary. Gavin didn’t know who this blonde man was, but he clearly was very skilled, with magic of his own. The brutes, for whom Gavin didn’t have any particular sympathy for, crumpled at a touch. [i]It’s almost like them. Like[/i] her. But not like her; this one could disappear in a blink. [i]Didn’t Ikegai say the hunter could do that?[/i] Was this the man behind the strange “visit” to the warehouse? Powerful magic. [i]A powerful ally.[/i] But, more importantly, Gavin noticed he hadn’t killed these men yet. “We need him,” Gavin whispered, handing Rab a leather pouch. Needles. “Do that, and you’ll be free. He will help us be free.” He hoped the word was enough to motivate Rab. 

There were more men coming. Gavin urged them forward. Good; as good as this man is, he was alone, and Gavin hoped the fight would distract him enough to get knocked out.