146 Unknown Voice

Doevm scowled. The worst part of this march wasn't the many knights' panicked whispers nor the dirt and broken stone falling from the unstable ceiling, but the horrid smell coming from the depths of the newly formed hole. Even as some's faces turned green, they kept marching. It was a smell that could not be anything else.

It was worse than a rotten piece of cheese or excrement. It was like one's body odor had been made into a candle and then left to rot in a dark cellar for years, then combined with the smell of burning fuel. It didn't matter if one had never smelled it before, because once did, they knew exactly what it was, the smell of burning hair and flesh. Most held their shirts over their noses, but that didn't help much. The smell clung to their nostrils, a grip which tightened the deeper they went.

Then there was the darkness, which ate away their visibility. The knights pulled out light crystals to illuminate the path before them, but no amount of light could cut deeper than a few dozen feet.

Doevm kept to the back of the march because noble squads only ever marched with their own men. They might have had hundreds of Knights, but they did not have one army, only a collection of different squads. Other groups scowled at him before whispering to their companions with barely hidden smiles.

"Quiet," Alexander's voice drifted through the cave softer than the wind, but its tone was as sharp as the sword at his waist. The laughing knights stifled their whispers and hardened their expressions.

'At least we have one who's competent,' Doevm thought as he got on his toes to look over the crowd. Alexander walked differently than at the Colosseum. He kept his bodyweight low and walked with a practiced paranoia, ready at any moment for a sudden attack. His hand was wrapped around his weapon's handle.

Others breathed exasperated and increasing in intensity. He breathed slow and rhythmically. Others' feet sunk into the dry dirt. His barely made marks to follow.

'So this is what it's like,' Doevm thought. 'To be on the same side as a scared army. Arthur used to tell me about situations like these, cursing the nobles' men for acting high and mighty when there was no threat, then shaking when they had to do their jobs. Most of these knights are just dragged along. It is like my first day on the front lines, except I can't whip these men into shape.

"The men behind me," Alexander's voice rang in the cave with the same soft yet firm voice. "are my ten Apprentices. While they might be new to leading, they are higher than Captains. Listen to them during the battle." The voice stopped with a soft hum. Doevm could have sworn he saw a stand of golden life essence around the general's mouth.

The entire group flinched as gunshots echoed through the tunnel, followed by many high-pitched screams. "Keep up the assault!" A far-away voice exclaimed. "It's almost down!" A deep, thunderous roar shook the tunnel and the stench worsened with a sudden gust of wind.

The unstable ceiling shifted out of balance. Doevm's hairs stood straight up as he felt something coming. 'Forward.' He dove forward just before the ceiling collapsed behind him, blocking off their only exit.

Most of the knights turned around with a mix of shocked and fearful expressions. Alexander only glanced back: "Continue the march. We can't turn back now." The knights took the full view of their blocked exit before one by one, they turned around, marching closer to the sounds of battle.

The darkness was ending, replaced with light from flames just a few hundred feet ahead of them. The hole had been made under half an hour ago, yet sections of the wall were already scorched. The flash of the guns were little dots within the all-encompassing blue blazes. The smell was everywhere now, so thick that several men had to stop and puke.

Alexander held up a fist, indicating to halt the advance. The knights, who had been too busy looking ahead, took a few moments to notice. Their metal coated feet sunk into the ground as they stopped by clattering into each other, followed by many groans.

"Watch it," Doevm heard one of the men say. He couldn't see what was happening, but he had a pretty good guess. He heard other clinks of metal and a few heavy steps of someone getting pushed back. "If you disrespect me, you might as well be disrespecting my lord. I serve under the-"

One of Alexander's apprentices weaved through the crowd, through formations. Doevm could tell when the apprentice made it to the two idiots when the sound of someone choking replaced words. "Follow orders and you are a knight. Follow no orders and you will no longer be a knight." the apprentice said only two words and there was a heavy thud.

"Yes sir," the man who had spoken earlier said in between heavy breaths. "Thank you for showing me mercy." All knights swallowed as the apprentice made his way back to the front of the formation with Alexander.

The light at the end of the tunnel had been extinguished, replaced with a cloud of ash and smoke. The tenth floor had been surrounded in a wall much like the library's, except now it was thicker than a house. Despite its impressive defensive capabilities, the wall hadn't been made for keeping people out, but for keeping the being whom guarded the tenth floor in. The skeletal arm had crashed straight through the wall.

Pieces of it were scattered everywhere. Doevm found the source of the smell: dozens of creatures' corpses. They had yet to fade away. Sections of their flesh and elongated hair burned away and regenerated only to be burned again.

Alexander peered through the smoke with golden life essence around his eyes before pushing his hand downward. The knights, while not the stealthiest group, got low like him and stepped into the wall of smoke.

The first things that came into view were the hundreds of light crystals embedded into the high ceiling. The circular walls were an alternating pattern of ribs from the long dead creature whose arm held up the capital, and more metal. Although much time had passed, its white sheen did not fade. The space of the tenth floor could probably fit the Virility mansion and most of the rose field.

To the left was a massive stone stairway leading up to the ninth floor. Next to them was a line of vertebrae jutting out of the backwall. Each one was twice as big as a man. Following the spine down to the center of the room, there men dressed in black cloaks, the Resistance.

Their guns were still smoking. Their bodies were covered in light wounds and sweat from fighting so much, yet there were just as many men as Doevm had seen earlier. The line of gunmen, while missing five men from those who turned into creatures earlier, had suffered almost no casualties. The six people at the back of the line were fine, better than the gunmen in fact.

The Resistance hadn't noticed the hundreds of knights approaching yet. Their eyes were still locked onto their opponent at the right side of the room, the guardian of the tenth floor.

Surrounding the monster were dozens more of creatures' corpses, their charred skin still smoldering. They were piled up in a mound under the monster, a dragon. Its black scaled wings were spread wide like its jaws. Doevm could tell when a knight noticed it simply by who took a step back.

The life had already left its bleeding eyes. There were countless strands of hair around it, binding it to the ground. While it lay on dozens of creatures, dozens more stood on it, ripping into its open chest like hungry ants.

Behind the dragon, on the rightmost part of the room, was a massive mithril wall. Doevm knew just from his past experiences that, behind that sturdy wall with not even so much as a door, was the crystal.

They must have caught the Resistance right after the battle had ended, because the wall was still untouched. The leader of the Resistance was the first to notice the crowd of knights closing in. "Enemy attack!" he roared. "Hold them off while I get the crystal!" He darted away from his men and towards the ginormous wall. In a single bound, he flew past the dragon.

Alexander wasn't far behind. He yelled, "Charge!" and lept after him. The Knights abandoned their low posture and stood straight up. Their nervousness washed away as they burst forth like a tidalwave, flooding through the room.