Chapter 296: Two Litters, One Road

The second litter took longer to build than Galahad wanted and less time than the older healer claimed it should.

The lower camp did not possess a spare one ready for travel. What it had instead were two narrow wooden hauling frames used to move supplies through the tunnels, several lengths of leather strapping, a roll of heavy canvas, and enough people who understood the difference between carrying cargo and carrying an injured man. Within minutes, one of the workers had removed the side braces from a hauling frame while another cut canvas to size. The healer from Kael’s expedition supervised the entire process from beside Tovin’s doorway, rejecting the first arrangement because the frame would have put too much pressure on his ribs.

"Higher here," she ordered, pointing toward the center support. "And I want another strap beneath the shoulders. If his body slides every time you go downhill, we might as well leave him on the floor."

The worker holding the frame frowned. "That makes it harder to carry."

"It makes him easier to keep alive."

Milo sat on an overturned crate several feet away, watching the exchange while slowly drinking water. "I recommend doing what she says. I have observed that arguments only make her stronger."

The healer looked at him.

Milo immediately raised the waterskin to his mouth again.

Kael smiled despite himself. Milo looked terrible. Sweat had dried into uneven lines across his face, ash clung to his hair and clothes, and the easy looseness normally present in his posture had vanished. Even sitting required effort now. He had spent too much mana holding barriers, redirecting drakes, stabilizing rupturing pipes, moving Derren, and patching problems that should have required three different mages.

Yet every time somebody glanced toward him as if deciding whether he needed help, Milo found enough energy to look offended.

Sera sat nearby restringing one of her backup bows. "How much mana do you actually have left?"

Milo looked toward her. "Enough."

"That was not a number."

"It was the emotionally correct answer."

"Can you cast?"

"Yes."

"What?"

Milo considered that much more carefully. "Something small."

"How small?"

"If the Ash-King comes through that wall, I can probably inconvenience him."

Sera stared at him.

Milo nodded. "Briefly."

Kael laughed softly, then immediately regretted it when the movement pulled at his injured shoulder. He pressed one hand against the muscle and felt the ache spread across his upper back. The System appeared before he consciously called for it.

[Status Assessment]

Right shoulder strain: persistent

Upper back trauma: moderate

Minor blood loss: stable

Mana reserves: reduced

Physical fatigue: significant

Recommendation: rest and hydration

Kael dismissed the message.

Rest.

That sounded wonderful.

It was also increasingly unrealistic.

Across the camp, Galahad stood with Darius, Iris, and two of the local workers around a crude charcoal map drawn directly onto a low table. The Iron Vanguard guide who had brought them down from the pressure chamber stood opposite them with both hands resting against the wood.

Kael got up and joined them.

The guide tapped the map. "This is where we are."

A small square had been drawn beside three branching lines.

"The eastern cut collapsed here. The upper route behind you is broken at the fissure. The main lower crossing continues south, then turns east beneath the old extraction works."

Galahad studied the lines. "You said an hour earlier."

"That was before the pressure changed."

"How long now?"

"Depends which sections are still open."

Galahad’s expression hardened. "You people are very committed to not giving useful estimates."

The guide’s mouth tightened. "Two litters will slow you."

"Us."

The man frowned.

Galahad tapped the table once. "You are guiding us."

"I was told to bring you to the lower crossing."

"And?"

"That was all."

Darius finally spoke. "The route behind us is failing. The eastern route is blocked. You know the tunnels."

The guide looked toward him.

Darius continued calmly. "You can walk away if you wish. We will still take the route. The difference is whether we make avoidable mistakes because the person who knew better decided his instructions ended three rooms ago."

The guide said nothing.

Milo called from his crate, "He has a gift for making reasonable statements sound threatening."

Darius did not look back. "Rest."

"I am."

The guide exhaled through his nose. "I’ll take you to the split below the extraction works."

Galahad nodded. "Good."

"After that, you are on your own."

"Then after that, we will argue again."

The guide looked at him for several seconds before turning back toward the map.

Kael studied the charcoal lines. "What is this?"

He pointed toward a narrow route drawn farther west. It did not connect cleanly to the others. Instead, it ended near a series of rough circles.

The guide’s hand immediately covered part of it.

"Not your route."

Kael looked at him.

The man looked back.

Galahad did not ask.

Not this time.

That surprised Kael until he understood why.

The Guild leader had learned something over the past several hours: every question did not need to be answered the moment it appeared. Sometimes forcing a question too early only made people stop talking.

Galahad instead asked, "Where is the nearest defensible station east of the crossing?"

The guide moved his hand.

"Old water chamber."

"Used?"

"Sometimes."

"Supplies?"

"Maybe."

Milo groaned from behind them.

Galahad ignored him. "Distance?"

"Forty minutes without injured."

"With?"

"More than an hour."

That was at least useful.

The stone door to the medical room opened.

Every conversation stopped.

The older healer stepped out first. The healer traveling with Kael followed behind her, both women wearing fresh blood on their hands. Neither looked pleased.

Galahad moved immediately.

"Tovin?"

"Alive," the older woman said. "Still not stable enough that I would choose to move him."

"Can he survive being moved?"

"I said I would not choose it."

"That is not the same question."

She stared at Galahad for several seconds.

Then glanced toward the floor.

A faint vibration moved beneath their feet.

That answered part of it for her.

"He may survive movement," she said. "He may not survive staying if this place becomes worse."

Galahad nodded.

"What injuries?"

"Burns along the left side. Two broken ribs. Deep puncture below the shoulder. Dehydration. Blood loss. His right ankle is broken."

Kael frowned. "Drake?"

The older healer looked toward him. "Some."

"Some?"

She wiped her hands on an already-stained cloth. "The burns are. The shoulder wound probably is not."

Galahad’s gaze sharpened. "What caused it?"

"Something narrow."

"Spear?"

"Maybe. Blade. Metal fragment. I am a healer, not a fortune teller."

Milo raised his waterskin toward her. "You should meet our guides."

She ignored him.

Galahad asked, "Can he speak?"

"No."

"Did he wake?"

"Twice. Neither time long enough to answer questions."

Derren spoke from his litter nearby. "He know where Lysa is?"

Everyone turned.

The name landed differently because none of them recognized it immediately.

Galahad approached him. "Who?"

Derren looked exhausted.

"Third one."

Kael felt the answer settle into place.

Rellan’s party.

Three adventurers.

Rellan.

Tovin.

Lysa.

Galahad crouched beside Derren. "Lysa was the third member of Rellan’s party?"

Derren nodded weakly. "Lysa Merrow."

There.

A name finally attached to the person they had been missing from the records in the field.

Galahad did not repeat it unnecessarily. "Do you know anything about where she went?"

Derren shook his head.

"Last time you saw her?"

"I didn’t."

Galahad frowned. "You knew the party."

"Not on this mission."

Right.

Derren had disappeared separately.

Galahad nodded. "Rest."

Derren closed his eyes.

Kael watched Galahad straighten.

No dramatic declaration followed.

No promise that they would find Lysa before leaving.

They were carrying two wounded men through an unstable volcanic tunnel system. One member of Rellan’s party was confirmed dead. Another could barely survive the next hour. The third remained unresolved.

That was enough.

The second litter was completed several minutes later.

The camp workers carried Tovin out carefully.

Even prepared for the injuries, Kael was not prepared for how bad the man looked.

Tovin was younger than Derren, perhaps in his late twenties. Much of the left side of his face was reddened from burns, though the damage did not appear deep enough to destroy the eye. Thick bandaging covered his shoulder and chest. His right ankle had been splinted, and every shallow breath pulled painfully against his ribs.

A strip of blue cloth remained tied around his wrist.

Derren saw it.

His eyes opened.

"Tovin."

There was no response.

The healer looked down at Derren. "He cannot hear you."

Derren kept looking anyway.

Galahad stepped between the two litters.

"Carriers."

The lower camp had enough workers to provide two additional men for the second litter. Galahad selected them only after confirming that they knew the lower routes and were willing to leave the camp.

One of them hesitated.

Not because of the journey.

Because of the Iron Vanguard guide.

The guide noticed.

"So?"

The worker shook his head. "Nothing."

Galahad looked between them.

He did not ask.

Again.

Kael noticed that too.

They were carrying more than injured people now.

They were carrying tensions.

Secrets.

Fear.

Whatever existed beneath the Caldera had people carefully measuring what they said around one another.

That worried Kael almost as much as the drakes.

The expedition reorganized before departure.

Iris and the Iron Vanguard guide took point.

Galahad stayed between the forward scouts and the first litter.

Derren traveled first, carried by Darius and the original route worker. Tovin followed behind with two lower-camp workers.

The healers moved between the litters so either injured man could be reached quickly.

Kael stayed near Tovin.

Milo and Sera took the rear.

"You are giving the rear to the mage with no mana?" Milo asked.

Galahad looked back. "I am giving the rear to Sera."

Milo nodded slowly. "Cruel, but accurate."

Sera checked her arrows. "You can stand behind me."

"I refuse."

"Then stand beside me."

"That is better."

Darius adjusted his grip on Derren’s litter. "Can we move?"

Galahad looked once around the entire group.

"Move."

The lower camp disappeared behind them within minutes.

The route descended first.

Then flattened.

The stone beneath their feet had changed again. Instead of black obsidian-like surfaces, the floor here was dull gray volcanic rock streaked with pale mineral veins. Several cracks had been patched with iron plates, though some plates were warped enough that the group had to step around them.

The System immediately began working.

[Environmental Analysis]

Temperature: high but stable

Airflow: moderate

Gas concentration: currently acceptable

Subsurface cavities present

Structural reliability: variable

Kael did not announce everything.

That was another lesson.

The System could give him ten pieces of information.

The group only needed the ones that mattered.

Twenty paces later:

[Surface weakness detected ahead]

"Iris. Left side."

She checked the floor.

A hairline fracture ran beneath a dusting of ash.

She marked it.

The litters shifted left.

Another hundred paces:

[Gas accumulation detected in lower depression]

"Stay high through this section."

The guide frowned. "Why?"

"Gas."

He looked down at the shallow dip.

Nothing was visible.

Milo took a small scrap of cloth from his sleeve, held it low, then lifted it again.

"No airflow."

The guide stared at him.

Milo shrugged. "He said gas."

The guide changed route.

No argument.

Good.

The party had begun learning how to trust information without needing to understand Kael’s source.

That trust had limits.

It should.

But it existed.

The tunnel widened gradually until they could walk two abreast.

Milo moved up beside Kael.

His pace was slower than usual.

"Do you think Walter complains about heat?"

Kael glanced at him. "Yes."

"Excellent."

"You still miss him?"

"More every minute."

Kael smiled.

Milo continued, "I am imagining him sitting under a tree right now, complaining that the sun is too warm while holding a cup of something hot."

"That sounds possible."

"He would tell us this entire problem could have been avoided by listening to old people."

Kael nodded. "Probably."

"And somehow he would be right."

Kael looked toward the glowing mineral cracks running through the wall.

"At this point, I would let him explain why for as long as he wanted."

Milo stopped for half a step.

"You are still agreeing."

"Yes."

"Disturbing."

Sera called from behind them. "Keep walking."

Milo looked back. "We are maintaining morale."

"You are slowing down."

"Morale has weight."

Kael laughed.

The laugh lasted until Iris raised one fist.

Everyone stopped.

She crouched.

Tracks.

Lots of them.

The floor ahead was covered in overlapping prints.

Human boots.

Cart grooves.

Drake claws.

Galahad moved forward.

"How recent?"

Iris studied the ash.

"Some old. Some within a day."

The guide looked around uneasily.

"Too much traffic."

Galahad looked at him. "For this route?"

"Yes."

"What normally comes through?"

"Work crews. Supply carts."

"Drakes?"

"No."

Iris pointed toward a claw impression.

"Large one."

The print was deeper than the juvenile tracks they had seen before.

Not Ash-King-sized.

Mature.

The System responded when Kael focused.

[Track Analysis]

Four-toed draconic print

Approximate size: mature drake class

Direction: east

Multiple passes detected

Kael looked toward Galahad. "At least one mature drake came through here. More than once."

The guide frowned. "That shouldn’t happen."

Milo sighed behind them.

"No."

The guide turned.

Milo continued, "We are retiring that phrase."

Sera nodded. "Agreed."

Galahad almost smiled.

Then Iris noticed the cart tracks.

"They stop."

Everyone looked.

The grooves ran another twenty paces.

Then vanished.

Not faded.

Stopped.

Kael moved closer.

The floor changed at the same location. There was a broad dark stain.

Burning.

Recent.

Part of the rock had been scorched blacker than the surrounding surface.

Several metal fragments lay nearby.

One wheel rim.

Two broken brackets.

Something had happened to the cart.

The System offered a scan.

[Evidence Analysis]

Recent high-temperature event

Metal deformation present

Impact damage present

Biological residue detected

Classification: mixed

Kael looked toward Iris.

"Blood."

She nodded.

"I see it."

A streak led toward the right wall.

Human-sized.

Another led left.

Larger.

Galahad pointed. "Do not split."

Iris studied both.

"The human trail ends quickly."

"Body?"

"No."

"Carried?"

"Maybe."

The larger streak continued toward a narrow opening in the wall.

The guide looked at it.

His expression changed.

"What?"

Galahad asked.

"That passage connects to a feeding channel."

Nobody moved.

Sera lowered her bow.

"Feeding?"

"For the lower drakes."

There was no reason for the word to mean anything else.

Galahad looked toward the blood streak.

"How often do people use it?"

"They don’t."

Iris pointed toward the bootprints around the ruined cart.

"People used it recently."

The guide went quiet.

Galahad stared at him.

Then looked toward the two litters.

"Not our route."

Iris nodded.

No chase.

No detour.

Not now.

But Kael’s System recorded the location.

[Evidence Location Recorded]

Destroyed cart

Human biological residue

Mature drake traffic

Feeding-channel access nearby

Cause: unresolved

They moved around the wreckage.

No one said much afterward.

The lower crossing was supposed to be an extraction route.

Instead, every section offered another reason to distrust what they had been told about the Caldera.

Fifteen minutes later, the sound began.

A faint knocking.

Metal against stone.

Regular.

Three strikes.

Pause.

Three strikes.

The Iron Vanguard guide stopped immediately.

Galahad looked toward him.

"What?"

The man listened.

Three strikes again.

His face tightened.

"Signal."

"Meaning?"

"Route closure."

"Which route?"

The man looked ahead.

"This one."

Milo closed his eyes.

Galahad did not react emotionally. "How far to the closure point?"

"Ten minutes."

"Can we reach it before whatever is happening?"

"I don’t know."

Darius asked, "Alternative?"

"Not with two litters."

The System flashed.

[DIRECTIONAL SCAN]

Multiple humanoid heat signatures ahead

Rapid movement toward current position

Count: 5–8

Kael raised one hand.

"People coming."

The guide looked forward.

"How many?"

"Maybe six."

He took a few steps ahead.

Iris stopped him with one arm.

"You stay where I can see you."

The guide looked at her.

"You think I called them?"

"I think you are nervous."

He stared.

Iris stared back.

Then he stepped aside.

The approaching group appeared around the bend less than a minute later.

Seven people.

Five armed.

Two workers.

All wore the Iron Vanguard insignia somewhere on their clothing.

They were not charging.

They were retreating.

The lead fighter saw Kael’s group and slowed sharply.

"What are you doing here?"

The guide answered. "Taking them east."

"You can’t."

Galahad stepped forward. "Why?"

The fighter looked toward the two litters.

Then toward Darius.

Then Kael.

His expression suggested none of those things improved the situation.

"The lower route is closed."

Galahad’s voice remained even. "We heard the signal."

"Then turn around."

"To where?"

The man hesitated.

Galahad spread one hand. "Exactly."

The fighter swore.

Darius asked, "What closed it?"

The answer did not come immediately.

Then one of the workers behind him said, "Bodies."

The fighter looked back sharply.

Too late.

Galahad heard.

"What bodies?"

The worker looked pale.

"Drakes."

"How many?"

"Six. Maybe seven."

Milo sighed in relief.

Everyone looked at him.

"What?"

Sera asked.

"I thought he meant people."

The worker swallowed.

"Those too."

Milo stopped smiling.

Galahad’s expression sharpened. "Explain."

The lead fighter cut in. "Not here."

"Here."

"The passage collapsed during an attack."

"What attacked?"

"Drakes."

"How many people?"

"I don’t know."

"You were there."

"I was trying not to die."

Fair.

Galahad changed the question. "Survivors?"

The fighter looked away.

"Some."

"Trapped?"

Silence.

The worker behind him nodded.

"Three."

The lead fighter rounded on him. "Enough."

"No," Galahad said.

The fighter turned back.

Galahad stepped closer. "Three people are trapped?"

"At least."

"Where?"

"Beyond the collapse."

"Alive?"

"They were when we left."

Milo rubbed both hands over his face.

Kael knew exactly what Galahad was about to consider.

Two wounded men.

One dead adventurer already marked for later recovery.

A third missing party member still unaccounted for.

Now three strangers trapped behind a collapse.

The mission could not become an endless chain of rescues until everyone died.

Galahad knew that.

It showed in his face.

He looked toward the healers first.

"Derren?"

"Stable."

"Tovin?"

The older healer traveling with them now shook her head. "Still critical."

"Can we stop?"

"For how long?"

Galahad looked toward the lead fighter.

"How far to the collapse?"

"Less than five minutes."

Kael’s System flickered.

[Environmental Analysis]

Local vibration increasing

Current passage integrity: moderate

Subsurface thermal activity rising

Not ideal.

Galahad closed his eyes briefly.

When he opened them, the decision was already made.

"We do not take the litters into the collapse zone."

Darius nodded.

Galahad pointed toward a widened recess they had passed thirty paces back. "Healers, workers, both wounded go there. Sera stays with them."

Sera frowned. "Galahad."

"You have the best ranged line in the group. If something reaches the litters in that corridor, you can kill it before it gets close."

She looked toward the route ahead.

Then back at Tovin.

"Fine."

"Milo stays too."

Milo raised one hand.

"I object."

"You have almost no mana."

"I object accurately."

"You protect the wounded."

Milo looked toward Derren and Tovin.

His expression changed.

The joke disappeared.

"All right."

Galahad turned toward Darius, Iris, and Kael.

"We inspect the collapse. We do not commit to a rescue until we know what it requires."

Good.

That was the difference between courage and stupidity.

The lead Iron Vanguard fighter frowned. "Why?"

Galahad looked at him.

"Because three people might still be alive."

"They aren’t yours."

Galahad’s expression hardened.

"No."

He glanced once toward the two wounded adventurers behind him.

"They’re still people."

The fighter had no answer.

They moved the litters into the recess.

It was not perfect shelter, but the stone walls narrowed the approach enough that Sera could control the corridor. Milo sat beside Tovin while the healers checked both men again.

As Kael started to leave, Milo caught his sleeve.

Kael looked back.

Milo’s expression was serious.

"Do not turn ’inspect’ into ’fight something enormous.’"

Kael smiled faintly. "That sounds like your job."

"I am delegating."

"I’ll try."

Milo stared at him.

"Kael."

"I heard you."

"Good."

Darius watched the exchange.

"Prince."

Kael turned.

"Coming."

Iris led the smaller group forward with the Iron Vanguard guide and two of the retreating fighters.

The tunnel widened after the next bend.

Then the smell hit them.

Burned flesh.

Hot stone.

Blood.

The collapse was not one wall of rubble.

It was a section of passage perhaps forty feet long where the ceiling had partially failed. Broken volcanic slabs had crushed portions of the walkway and blocked most of the route.

Two dead drakes lay among the debris.

Another had been crushed beneath a ceiling block.

A fourth body was farther ahead.

Human.

Kael did not look at it long.

The System activated.

[Structural Analysis]

Major ceiling failure

Multiple unstable load points

Secondary collapse risk: HIGH

Heat source movement detected beyond obstruction

Kael froze.

"Something is moving on the other side."

Iris crouched.

"People?"

The System tried to resolve.

Heat signatures: mixed

Three humanoid-range signatures detected

Additional larger signature present

Kael looked toward Galahad.

"Three people."

The Guild leader’s face changed.

"And something larger."

Darius drew his sword.

The lead Iron Vanguard fighter swore.

"It stayed."

Galahad turned.

"What stayed?"

The man stared through the broken passage.

"Drake."

"Mature?"

"Yes."

Iris studied the rubble.

"Can the people get out?"

"Not without crossing open ground behind the collapse."

"Why didn’t you kill the drake?"

The fighter looked at her.

"We tried."

Darius looked toward the dead drakes.

"Those?"

"Not the same one."

Kael focused deeper.

The System could not see through all the rock.

But it detected heat.

Movement.

Three people pressed somewhere against the far wall.

One larger creature moving between them and the broken opening.

Galahad looked at Kael.

"Any route through?"

Kael focused on the rubble.

[Structural Analysis]

Possible crawl gap: right side

Width: insufficient for armored adult without clearing

Clearing risk: moderate

Primary overhead slab supported by fractured stone

"Right side. There’s a gap, but we would have to widen it carefully."

Iris went immediately.

She crouched beside the rubble and peered through.

Then:

"I see light."

Galahad moved beside her.

A voice came faintly from the other side.

Not words.

A shout.

Iris shouted back.

"Three of you?"

Silence.

Then:

"Three!"

Alive.

For now.

Galahad looked toward Darius.

Darius looked toward the unstable ceiling.

Then Kael.

"No heavy Aura."

Kael nodded.

One careless strike could bury everyone.

Galahad addressed the Iron Vanguard fighters. "You know those people?"

The lead man nodded.

"One is mine."

"And the others?"

"Workers."

Galahad drew his sword.

"Then help clear."

The man stared at him.

"You are serious."

"Yes."

"Your wounded are behind you."

"That is why we are not staying long."

Kael crouched beside Iris.

The System marked the fractured support.

No giant solution.

No convenient spell.

Just:

[Primary stress point: upper right slab]

Avoid vibration

Kael pointed.

"Do not touch that one."

Iris nodded.

Darius removed his gauntlets.

The Iron Vanguard fighter looked at him.

Darius said, "We move pieces by hand."

No Aura.

No dramatic sword attack.

Just work.

Galahad immediately started with the smaller rocks.

Kael joined.

So did Iris.

The two Iron Vanguard fighters hesitated only a moment before kneeling beside them.

For the next several minutes, an A-rank expedition became six people quietly moving stones.

It was slower than fighting.

Harder in a different way.

Every rock had to be tested.

Every shift risked changing the weight above them.

Kael’s System warned when something moved.

[Load redistribution detected]

"Stop."

Everyone froze.

The ceiling creaked.

Dust fell.

Then settled.

They continued.

The gap widened.

Enough to see through now.

Kael put his face near the opening.

Three people stood about thirty feet beyond the rubble.

One armed man.

Two workers.

Behind them was another open tunnel.

And between them and Kael—

The drake.

It was not as large as the brood guard.

Still mature.

Dark scales.

One wing torn.

Blood covering part of its flank.

Wounded.

Angry.

Trapped.

Possibly more dangerous because of it.

The creature turned.

Its eyes found the opening.

Kael slowly moved his head back.

Galahad looked at him.

"Well?"

"Three alive."

"And?"

"Drake between them and us."

Darius put his gauntlets back on.

"How much room?"

"Enough to fight."

"Ceiling?"

"Not enough for you to fight normally."

Darius almost smiled.

"Normally."

Galahad looked through the gap himself.

Then sat back.

"We need them to move toward us while the drake is moved away."

Iris immediately said, "Noise."

The Iron Vanguard fighter shook his head. "It’ll charge the noise."

"Yes."

He stared at her.

Then understood.

"Someone pulls it left."

"The survivors move right."

Galahad looked toward the crawl gap.

"Who can fit through?"

Iris.

Kael.

Maybe Galahad if more stone moved.

Not Darius easily.

The Iron Vanguard fighter looked at Kael.

"No."

Kael frowned. "No what?"

"You are not going through there."

Darius glanced toward him.

The fighter continued. "If the prince dies under my route, I don’t want to explain that."

Kael almost laughed.

Galahad did not.

"Iris."

She nodded.

Kael started to object.

Galahad looked at him. "You stay here."

"I can help."

"You are helping. You have the best warning we have for the ceiling."

That stopped Kael.

Correct.

His job did not need to be entering every dangerous place.

Iris removed her pack.

Then her heavier equipment.

She slid into the gap.

The Iron Vanguard fighter watched her disappear.

"You people do this often?"

Galahad looked at him.

"Unfortunately."

From the other side, Iris’s voice came faintly.

"Ready."

Galahad looked toward Darius.

"Can you draw it without collapsing everything?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Darius picked up a fist-sized stone.

Then threw it through the gap.

Not at the drake.

Far left.

The rock struck the opposite wall.

The drake turned.

Another stone.

Farther left.

The creature moved.

Iris shouted.

"Now!"

The three survivors ran.

The drake heard them.

Turned.

Darius threw another rock directly into its injured wing.

The drake roared and charged toward the opening instead.

Exactly what they wanted.

Mostly.

The System flashed.

[IMPACT RISK]

"Back!"

Everyone moved away from the rubble.

The drake hit the blocked passage.

Stone jumped.

Dust exploded outward.

Kael’s System screamed.

[SECONDARY COLLAPSE IMMINENT]

"The ceiling!"

Darius looked up.

The fractured slab shifted.

Galahad shouted through the gap. "Move!"

The survivors crawled.

One worker reached the opening first.

The Iron Vanguard fighter grabbed his arms and pulled.

Second.

Then the armed survivor.

Iris last.

The ceiling dropped.

Kael raised Ice instinctively.

Not a huge wall.

Two narrow pillars under the shifting slab.

The System flashed.

[Ice support stability: LOW]

Darius moved beside them.

He did not strike.

He put both hands beneath the slab and reinforced his body with Aura.

The stone stopped.

Barely.

Kael’s ice cracked.

"Go!"

Iris dove through the gap.

Galahad caught her.

The last survivor cleared.

Darius released.

Kael dropped the Ice.

The ceiling collapsed.

The roar of the drake disappeared beneath tons of stone.

The entire passage shook.

Everyone ran.

No checking if it was dead.

No trophy.

No investigation.

They retreated until the collapse disappeared behind the bend.

Only then did Galahad stop.

The three rescued people were alive.

One had a broken arm.

One was burned.

The armed man had blood running down one leg.

Iris was covered head to toe in ash but unharmed.

Darius flexed his hands.

Kael looked at him.

"Good?"

"Yes."

That was not a complete answer.

Kael accepted it for now.

The rescued Iron Vanguard fighter looked at Galahad.

"You came back."

Galahad frowned.

"We were thirty paces away."

The man shook his head.

"No."

He looked toward the collapsed route.

"Others heard us."

Silence.

Galahad’s expression changed slightly.

The worker beside him looked down.

Kael understood.

Other groups had passed.

Or known.

Or decided the risk was too high.

The rescued man looked toward Darius.

Then Kael.

Then Galahad.

"Why?"

Galahad did not give him a speech.

"We could."

That was all.

Then Kael’s System flashed again.

[ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT]

Pressure migration accelerating

New fracture activity detected

Current route to east: obstructed

Alternative path required

Milo was going to love that.

Galahad looked back toward where the litters waited.

Then toward the rescued people.

They had started with one wounded man.

Then two.

Now three more injured people were being added to the moving problem.

Galahad rubbed one hand across his face.

Darius looked at him.

"Mission lead?"

Galahad sighed.

"Do not say anything."

For once, Darius actually laughed.