I’m Starr and it’s lovely to meet you.”
Ronan stared at the scene and decided to take things in hand. “Okay, enough with the introductions. We’ll have plenty of time for that after we’ve saved this Dragon. Hello, Kyra, pleased to meet you but, Serge, we need to get back on point.”
Serge moved away from Kyra. “Yeah, I know, sorry, boss. Okay, over there – can you see the cavern’s entrance? That’s where they are. We’ve stayed well away just in case they had any magical alerts in place but I can scent the dark magic and the Dragon from here. Now, I have no idea what’s beyond the opening so we’ll be going in blind...”
Josef’s voice interrupted. “I may be able to help. If you give me a moment, I’ll see if I can get a sense of what’s inside.”
They watched as Josef closed his eyes, a slight frown on his face. As he opened his eyes again he looked to Ronan. “The main tunnel branches off into at least three passageways. They go on for some distance, but I’m afraid I can’t get any further details. I sense living beings inside but sensing exactly how many is more difficult as there are definitely magical wards in place.”
Esther moved forward. “Let me see what I can feel. The wards may just be in place to alert them if anyone enters the cavern. However, they may also be ones that can cause pain or injury for anyone attempting to break through. If the latter I’ll try to counteract them.”
They all kept their eyes on the Witch as she started to move her hands gracefully while muttering in a language they didn’t understand. In less than a minute she stopped, turning to face Ronan. “Alert only. I can’t detect anything that will actually harm us. We have two options; I take the time to try and disable the alert spell, or, we just go in and know that whoever placed the spells will know we are there.”
Ronan was impatient to get the mission underway. “How quickly can you disable it?”
“I’m not certain. It’s dark magic based and it could take as little as a few minutes or it may take longer depending on the complexity of the spell.”
Esther shrugged her shoulders as Ronan made up his mind. “We go in, now. We split up into three teams and take a tunnel each. Esther, you and Celeste are with me, Starr and Creed.” He gave Creed a look that he hoped conveyed his feelings about keeping Starr safe. As the dark, dangerous Vampire inclined his head Ronan realized that he did indeed understand. “Sam, you lead up team two with Josef, Peri and Gabe, take one of the Elite squads. Serge, you lead team three with Drake and the last squad. You need to be more careful, Serge, you don’t have a Witch with your team so if you come across anything magical, do not engage. Retreat and let us know and we’ll send Peri or Esther to help you out.”
Ronan stopped, looking around the group to make sure they all understood his instructions. “Okay. Serge you come in last, that way, hopefully, any Witches inside will have been dealt with before you get to them. Once we’re in, we’ll decide who goes down which passageway. Let’s roll folks.”
Everyone split up into their designated teams and moved off towards the opening in the rock-face. Although not far away, the closer they got, the immenseness of the mountain seemed to become clearer. The opening much larger than it had looked a few hundred yards back.
Ronan was first to enter the darkness and was grateful for his enhanced vision as the tunnel was almost pitch black. He felt Starr’s hand on his back as they walked onwards. He wasn’t sure if it was nerves or excitement as she had near perfect night vision. As they walked on the tunnel brightened, although he could see no visible signs of lighting anywhere. As they approached the end of the passageway, the brightness increased revealing an intersection up ahead, and Ronan caught a glimpse of more tunnels.
When he exited the tunnel, there were three openings, one visible
Ronan stared at the scene and decided to take things in hand. “Okay, enough with the introductions. We’ll have plenty of time for that after we’ve saved this Dragon. Hello, Kyra, pleased to meet you but, Serge, we need to get back on point.”
Serge moved away from Kyra. “Yeah, I know, sorry, boss. Okay, over there – can you see the cavern’s entrance? That’s where they are. We’ve stayed well away just in case they had any magical alerts in place but I can scent the dark magic and the Dragon from here. Now, I have no idea what’s beyond the opening so we’ll be going in blind...”
Josef’s voice interrupted. “I may be able to help. If you give me a moment, I’ll see if I can get a sense of what’s inside.”
They watched as Josef closed his eyes, a slight frown on his face. As he opened his eyes again he looked to Ronan. “The main tunnel branches off into at least three passageways. They go on for some distance, but I’m afraid I can’t get any further details. I sense living beings inside but sensing exactly how many is more difficult as there are definitely magical wards in place.”
Esther moved forward. “Let me see what I can feel. The wards may just be in place to alert them if anyone enters the cavern. However, they may also be ones that can cause pain or injury for anyone attempting to break through. If the latter I’ll try to counteract them.”
They all kept their eyes on the Witch as she started to move her hands gracefully while muttering in a language they didn’t understand. In less than a minute she stopped, turning to face Ronan. “Alert only. I can’t detect anything that will actually harm us. We have two options; I take the time to try and disable the alert spell, or, we just go in and know that whoever placed the spells will know we are there.”
Ronan was impatient to get the mission underway. “How quickly can you disable it?”
“I’m not certain. It’s dark magic based and it could take as little as a few minutes or it may take longer depending on the complexity of the spell.”
Esther shrugged her shoulders as Ronan made up his mind. “We go in, now. We split up into three teams and take a tunnel each. Esther, you and Celeste are with me, Starr and Creed.” He gave Creed a look that he hoped conveyed his feelings about keeping Starr safe. As the dark, dangerous Vampire inclined his head Ronan realized that he did indeed understand. “Sam, you lead up team two with Josef, Peri and Gabe, take one of the Elite squads. Serge, you lead team three with Drake and the last squad. You need to be more careful, Serge, you don’t have a Witch with your team so if you come across anything magical, do not engage. Retreat and let us know and we’ll send Peri or Esther to help you out.”
Ronan stopped, looking around the group to make sure they all understood his instructions. “Okay. Serge you come in last, that way, hopefully, any Witches inside will have been dealt with before you get to them. Once we’re in, we’ll decide who goes down which passageway. Let’s roll folks.”
Everyone split up into their designated teams and moved off towards the opening in the rock-face. Although not far away, the closer they got, the immenseness of the mountain seemed to become clearer. The opening much larger than it had looked a few hundred yards back.
Ronan was first to enter the darkness and was grateful for his enhanced vision as the tunnel was almost pitch black. He felt Starr’s hand on his back as they walked onwards. He wasn’t sure if it was nerves or excitement as she had near perfect night vision. As they walked on the tunnel brightened, although he could see no visible signs of lighting anywhere. As they approached the end of the passageway, the brightness increased revealing an intersection up ahead, and Ronan caught a glimpse of more tunnels.
When he exited the tunnel, there were three openings, one visible
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