Chapter 156

Chapter 156<~> Chapter 156

When we got the notification all of us slowed to a stop and turned around to look. The taller building had half collapsed over the side of the one we were standing on and had formed a pile of rubble up against it. I peeked over the edge but I couldn't see the monster anymore, it must be under the huge piles of bricks and wood.

"I don't see it, just a pile of rubble," I told everyone.

Everyone was already relaxing on the roof, this one was flat with a little garden on top. It was lucky something like this had been so close to the wall we jumped out of.

I touched Mimi in necklace form. "Good job Mimi."

She pulled away from my fingers and flowed back into her normal body, only a moment later her clothes and equipment appeared back on top of her. It seems she's improving her control over bringing things in and out of her pocket dimension.CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m

I walked back to the edge and looked down the street. I couldn't see any of the guards from here. The two buildings are close, were close, but no one came rushing after us when we ran.

"Let's get out of here, see what's going on with Jasper," I said.

Everyone nodded and agreed. We headed over to the roof access door of the building we were standing on and knocked. When we didn't get a response I cracked the door open and peeked inside. Doesn't look like anyone is home. We walked through a small mansion that was well-furnished. It doesn't look like anyone had been here since the attack, not even looters. Perhaps the building next door with the giant hole in it had dissuaded anyone from poking around too much. There wasn't any way to lock the doors behind us so I just shrugged and closed it.

Before we headed back we poked around the rubble. The entire building had collapsed, between the giant hell hound slamming against the thing and rotting wood from when the hungering corpse had filled the entire place with miasma, the thing couldn't hold up any longer. It was a surprise it held out as long as it did frankly. There were bricks, wood planks, and dust all over the street. I didn't see any signs of the monster's corpse but I also wasn't that interested in digging it out right now, even if parts of it might be worth something. Not that I had access to the guild to sell any of that stuff at the moment.

I turned away from the rubble and looked down the street. "Come on guys, let's go."

When we got back to the building we had raided there was arguing going on between the remaining guards. When Bertrand turned and noticed us he lit up a little. "Oh thank the gods, you're still alive. Does that mean you managed to kill that demon?"

I looked at my friends and shrugged. "Kinda? We were running from it and it dropped a building on itself. We got the kill notification but I don't feel like we did anything."

He sighed in relief. "As long as that thing is dead. Can you heal my arm?" Bella nodded and began to focus as she poured healing magic into him.

I looked around at the guards. "Where's Jasper?" I asked.

Bertrand's face went grim. "Jasper is dead. That monster bit him in half and swallowed him. I was there when it happened, he was being reckless because of Abby." He gestured at the unconscious woman Silva was still carrying.

"After that, the demon switched targets to me and knocked me around until I made it out of the building. I wasn't sure what to do when it chased all of you down the street. We were arguing about following but I don't think any of us were strong enough to kill that thing. Since Jasper is dead and Abby is still knocked out, I'm in charge right now, not that any of us will be half the leader he was. The prisoners weren't only the ones that the hell hound killed when it spit fire at us either. Over a third of us died in this raid." He sighed heavily and tried to wipe some of the dirt off his face.

"Is there anyone left in there?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, we killed all of the ones who resisted us and the hell hound killed the rest. Everything inside is clear now, all that's left are the prisoners and slaves."

"Prisoners?"

He nodded. "They were keeping some people locked in cages back there. Maybe demon experiments or sacrifices or something. There were also two slaves in there, including one of the ones we were told to look out for, a golden-furred dogfolk that Nathaniel told us about."

"Why wouldn't they just have an earth mage help them?" I asked.

"Not sure, could just be that they don't have one in their ranks. Earth mages that would be able to do this kind of thing wouldn't be lacking for job opportunities, especially with the frontier opening up."

I nodded and we continued down the dirt slope into the large tunnel. There was fresh blood in places on the dirt. There were signs of battle here. Fresh claw marks from where the hell hound had chased people through were still visible in the dirt walls and floor.

"The prisoners are down the tunnel to the right." The guard pointed to an opening in the tunnel marked by a torch.

Inside the room were large cages built right into the walls. The places where the bars met the edges of the tunneled-out room looked reinforced with wood and stone. I wasn't sure how sturdy the cells were but I doubted any of the prisoners would be able to do anything about the bars with the cultists watching over them. Especially not at their level. I scanned across them, none of them felt like they were even a quarter of my strength.

Most of the prisoners looked weak and malnourished. Not to the extent that they weren't being fed at all but more that the food they were being given probably wasn't good enough. Most of them were humans which made the deer-kin in a cell with only two others stand out even more.

My group walked over to the cell and I pointed to the deerfolk. "Are you Matilda's brother?" I asked.

He frowned and furrowed his brows. "Who's asking?"

Fair, he didn't know me, had no reason to trust me, and it wasn't like any of them had been let out of their cages yet.

"We're here to rescue all of you. Your sister was worried about you so we've kept an eye out."

His face grew more concerned. "Is she... still alive? They said that they left her to die in the castle when she started fighting them..."

"She's still alive but it's... complicated. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to see her again soon."

There were whispers among the prisoners, the news that we were going to rescue them was met with cautious optimism. With how long I assume these people have been here, I wouldn't expect a much better reaction. I was relieved that Matilda's brother had survived the ordeal, that she hadn't done all of that only for her brother to be killed anyway. It wasn't a large consolation but it was something.

"Is anyone hurt?" I asked as I put a hand on Bella's shoulder. "My... companion here is a healer."

This led to another round of whispers as a few of the prisoners came forward nursing broken arms and sickly bodies. As Bella began to heal them I stepped to the side with Torien.

"What do you think they were being kept for?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "I'd rather not speculate, to be honest. Demon summoning has been said to have ritual sacrifices and such. They could also be political prisoners or hostages like Matilda's brother was. Jas— The guard will have to question all of them thoroughly to see what they know."

"Should we be asking questions?"

Torien paused in thought before shaking her head. "No, probably not worth the time. We don't know how long the guard will allow us to 'snoop around' and I'd rather look for something Nathaniel would be less likely to share with us."

"Okay. Once Bella is finished let's go see what we can find."

I scratched the base of my horn as Bella finished up with the last prisoner. The spirits of the people inside already looked a lot better. They were starting to believe they might actually be able to escape from this place.