“Reports are coming in from eastern observers that the Traxian Imperial 11th ‘Victors’ Legion have engaged in a week-long melee against the Sultanate’s ‘Sandstorm’ Gharatgar Detachment. While both sides have proclaimed a victory during this ‘Battle Of the Sands’, our spies suggest that neither side have been able to decisively secure the contested zone. We also have reason to suspect the sheer bloodshed within the region may have also disturbed what could be ancient Myndiri ruins located beneath the sand dunes. Due to the conflict, we have been unable to ascertain the veracity of this matter as of yet, though leyline readers indicate it. Awaiting further guidance.”

  - [Redacted] Kelso Montag, Aufklarunggruppen Vier , “Observational Update”

  The revelation of more corpses sat up on display had sent ripples throughout the ranks of the church. Whatever chances Eva and the saints had to extend their reach any further into the Golden Quarter from the gatehouse had evaporated the moment Sophie informed the others. The templars tightened their formations and Sir Janos quickly sent a pair of runners to inform the base camp of the current developments and to recall Theodore’s scouting deployment to a far more defensive one.

  After having seen the bodies, Sir Taurox and the inquisitor arrived at roughly the same conclusion that Sophie and the others had reached. That someone had certainly seen the necessity of sending a warning, and that they were unlikely to be friendly if they did still remain here. And that they had most certainly held out near or even within the Golden Quarter itself, markedly increasing the risk to their mission. But still, Sophie would proceed regardless, though with a minor addition to her team.

  Leaving the planning of the defence and building of barricades to Janos and Eva, Sir Taurox lent his axe to the advance. The minotaur’s sizable presence and innate skill offered a modicum of reassurance to Sophie’s anxious mind. With his support behind them, they tried their best to commence a targeted sweep of the quarters based on what few maps and information that the others had. The merchant’s guild, the city guard’s outpost, and the direktor’s house. Those would be their objectives here.

  In truth, Sophie saw little need to search anywhere beyond the direktor’s house. After all, it seemed a bit naive to expect anything overtly tying a conspiracy together to simply be left within guild halls and workplaces. But it was actually Sir Janos and Mila who advocated for the former, having both argue that if anything, merchant records could help expose unexpected trails that they might not have considered before. Weapons shipments, ore deliveries, supply allocations and business ledgers amongst other things could potentially help paint a picture of the city’s last days while also giving a chance for them to cross check and search for any anomalous build ups that could indicate the beginnings of the conspiracy.

  Regarding the guardpost, Mila simply wanted to check up on it, withholding her own suspicions for now and promising to share them if they were validated. Sophie agreed to it as long as the inquisitor would find it useful. To which the girl readily affirmed.

  To be able to reach all the designated locations within the day, they started their search near the eastern side of the quarters. Directing their attention to the errant guardpost that had so caught Mila’s eye when they studied the city’s map during the planning before the initial advance. From there, an almost semi circular advance throughout the district, sweeping past the guild before ending up at the direktor’s house. Limiting themselves to only the larger roads, they hoped to at least be able to spot any trouble should there be any, though only the Goddess knew what might be hidden in this city district.

  Compared to the rest of the city, this place reminded her much more of Neun Carad. Where the majority of buildings had been brutish, bland, with distinctive stone supported wooden edifices. Here, there was a smattering of grandeur that hinted at the differing social caste compared to the rest of it. Marble statues, golden inlays and decorative designs etched all across the stonework, even a few houses with their own landscaping walls to segregate their property from the other ones.

  There had been a greater veneer of glitz and glamour here, at least once. Though now, the soot, ash, and dust flung about from the siege of the city coupled with the invasive mists have stripped almost all color from the place. Leaving behind only peeling paints, wounded facades, and the ever thickening layer of drab grey mist that clung to every surface like a leech. Even in this richer district, there was no escape from it. The Mistveil will have its due.

  The guardpost was, like everything else, deserted. An empty husk of a building where resistance had also been centered around at some point. Unlike its more opulent and well designed neighborhood around it however, the structure itself was built like a brick. Simple heavy rectangular slabs with minimal amount of decor in the marble pillars that surrounded it. A brief reminder of its place and function, but nothing beyond that.

  Sophie flinched a little seeing a collapsed statue of Tessadus, the God’s connection to the world depicted by the now smashed globe that lay shattered at his feet. A desecration against the Goddess, an offense most high. Given Mila’s deepening scowl, it was clear that she wasn’t the only one sharing that thought.

  Looking around, Sophie caught a glimpse of Raylani’s eye’s narrowing a little as the dark elf’s ears twitched a little. Knowing the dark elf was far more adept at warfare and reconnaissance than she is, she immediately held up a hand to signal the others to halt. Perhaps the quickest to react was Elaria, the bard mostly cued into Raylani’s reaction more than Sophie’s.

  “What is it?” Mila hissed, the inquisitor trying to turn to face the dark elf before being caught a little off guard by their sudden stop and wobbling on the spot.

  Raylani quietly extended her arm to catch the unbalanced girl, earning herself a muttered scowl of gratitude from the inquisitor. Mila tugged at the arm to steady herself before letting out a breath.

  “Sounded like something moved, inside.” The dark elf declared with a ghostly whisper.

  Sophie felt her next breath get caught in her throat. She could feel a slick bead of sweat run down her arm and into her palm, an oddity against the eerie chill of the Mistveil.. Her fingers instinctively tighten around the hilt of her blade.

  The distinctive thumping of boots signalled the second wave. Taurox and the Red Hawks.

  They needed no acknowledgement or orders, they were trained soldiers and a templar. They wasted no time in quickly taking up the Lily Knight’s flanks. The signs of trouble already registered from the simple fact that Sophie’s unit had abruptly paused their advance.

  “Noises. Unknown.” Mila stated the bare minimum. Though she kept her voice to a whisper, against the silence of the dead city, it echoed through the rubble and twisted streets just the same.

  With the two groups assembled, Sophie and Taurox exchanged a nod. All of them coming to a silent consensus that time might now be a more pressing factor than expected. For if there really was someone or something inside, there was little chance that Sophie’s party, let alone the armored warriors, had gone unnoticed.

  For the first time since they had been saddled with their minders, the knights moved ahead of Sophie’s group to take point. Their shields raised in unison as Taurox led them forwards.

  Eschewing stealth in favor of security, the armored detachment were first through the doors. Prying them open before flooding inside with their weapons at the ready. Only when the initial assessment was satisfactory did they take a few steps forward, giving room for Sophie’s squadron to make their own forceful entrance into the building.

  The first floor was much like any guard barracks might be. What looked to be a small kitchen in the corner, arms and armor still in their weapon racks by the wall, some chairs and tables, and what even seemed to be a small training area with wooden targets. Yet perhaps what unnerved Sophie the most compared to the violence scarred exterior was how almost unbothered the inside looked. A few tables and chairs were overturned, a pile of arms and armor scattered here or there, but nothing much else that would indicate a last stand of sorts like those in the guild halls.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  A few heads turned towards the dark elf. Raylani just gestured upstairs.

  With the main room relatively clear, they hurried upstairs, coming to a quick stop at the second floor landing.

  There, they stumbled onto what looked to be a lounge area complete with tables, couches and what seemed to be a smaller table meant for chess or other such games. It wasn’t much in the standards of the nobility and district, but compared to the sparse almost barebones nature of those manning the gates and likely in the other districts, this was the height of luxury. Boarding them and lining the rest of the building were more dormitory style rooms, a few with doors ajar but most looking relatively unscathed.

  Yet where there had mostly been disorganized heaps of bones or corpses, here, a few simply sat there in their entirety. A skeletal snapshot of their last moments spent embracing the end by simply giving up. Her eyes glanced over each and every one though, not wanting any potential threats to slip by due to her own negligence. But stare as she might, none of them looked particularly ‘alive’ or even having been party to any recent attempts at locomotion, if the thick layer of dust upon their bodies were of any indication.

  A creak, then two. The clattering of armored boots as they pushed onwards past the lounge.

  If there had been any questions about the presence of other individuals, undead or otherwise, had been in debate, it was no longer.

  Almost in response to the noise they had made in their entry, and perhaps in the vain hope they would leave. The moment their presence on the second floor became clear to hear, something reacted.

  The unmistakable sound of glass shattered echoed through one of the closed doors at the other end of the hall. The violent and almost singular source of sound was likely loud enough to have been heard by an entire city block.

  Before they could react, a domino of low moans and groans rose up from the barrack rooms. A slowly growing chorus spread from one afflicted area to another, some even from the floor below as the groans echoed down the stairwell into corners left unchecked due to their haste.

  “Proceed on the route. We’ll secure this area. Try to identify the hostile. Go!” Sir Taurox roared.

  Still on the backfoot, Sophie could only mutely half nod as she tried to process everything that was suddenly happening around her.

  An undead guardsmen stumbled out of a broken doorway and before it could even gurgle, the minotaur descended upon it with surprising alacrity. A single cleave was all it took to have his war axe tear through rusted armor and rotted flesh. The unlife vanished just as quickly as it had awoken as it crumpled to the ground in a neat little heap.

  The Red Hawks sprang into action as well, the knights maintaining a shield wall as they quickly blocked the main approaches on the second floor to control the flow of potential foes. As one, they pushed towards where the sound of glass shattering had come from. Before Sophie could keep watching, she found herself being violently shaken by a scowling inquisitor.

  “Sophie. Move.” Mila snarled.

  Startled, Sophie regained what composure she could and finally processed the instructions. Taking one last look to make sure nothing in the lounge was coming back to life, she led the way back down in a hurry.

  Here too, the carefully preserved chaos of the barracks was being shattered. A stack of crates falling over there, loud banging on what was presumably the toilet door, and corpses rising from behind fallen tables. Bones cracked and crackled as weary joints forced themselves to move through sheer instinct alone. The last remnants of the Eichafen’s guards clawed themselves upright, their rotted forms having been subjected to the Mistveil’s abuse and whatever had originally felled them were almost nothing but weathered bones and moss covered armor.

  Unlike even the undead that she had faced before. These seemed to be broken and tired like the city itself. Long past their expiration date though likely just as dead in their own way given the diseases and infections they could potentially cause.

  “Push forward! Sophia, left, Mila, right. Ela, Raylani, stragglers.” Sophie finally mustered up enough wherewithal to call out her own instructions.

  Sophia acknowledged her instructions by surging forward, getting right up in front of an undead guardsmen before kicking his legs out from under him. Neglected, rotted, and obviously horrifically brittle. The thin boney legs snapped from the impact as the rest of the body simply collapsed onto the floor, the undead only managing a skeletal groan before Sophia finished him off by letting a falling wall fixture impale him on the spot.

  Mila was as professional as always. The inquisitor’s ever present scowl marking the only way to determine her mood on the field as she effortlessly landed cut after cut. Between the neck, around the armor, and into the little gaps. Never jabbing or slashing where there would be resistance. Though in this case, the danger posed by the decayed dead were less predatory in nature and more a case of her blade getting stuck amongst the bones. Still, compared to Sophia’s more whimsical mannerism, Mila was poised and controlled.

  Sophie continued pushing her way towards the doorway, though trying to keep their advance controlled given that they now had something or someone that was active in the ruins. They had come here to investigate but without checking all their corners. Though thankfully these undead were not actively too hard to deal with. Still, it only raised more concerns than answers for her.

  For whatever it was clearly hadn’t triggered the undead. Either skilled enough or experienced enough from having been here long enough. It also didn’t seem to be much of an animal, at least not merely a simplistic one given its reactions so far. It waited until we were upstairs. And if it’s the same as the shadow I saw earlier… she felt a small chill run down her spine, then it was watching us.

  A shambling trooper leapt out of a side room, the armored half skeleton half fleshy messy flailing aimlessly at the party, letting out eerie groans that continued to alert other undead. Lifting her leg, Sophie delivered a forceful kick towards its torso, connecting with the armored plate and sending the weakened creature sprawling backwards onto a floor. Left open and vulnerable, she quickly jabbed her blade down onto its exposed head, ending its tortured existence with a twist of the blade.

  Looking up, she could make out the entrance that they had arrived from. One that was thankfully mostly clear of undead save for one or two currently struggling to escape from more side room.

  “Go, go! Follow me!” She called out.

  Her intention made clear, she scrambled past the few obstacles there were, trusting in her comrades to clear the flanks as she advanced.

  Only when the discomforting cloying sensation of the eerie fog touched her skin once more did she allow herself a moment to breathe. Trouble had found them, or at least they had found it. Sooner rather than later, she suspected, the remaining undead within the Golden Quarter would be roused from their deathless slumber. If that were to happen, she had no idea how much they could handle with only a third of their number operating here. Nor did she want to invite more danger to Eva and the others.

  Cutting through a few more of the weakened guardsmen, they found themselves back outside the barracks once more. Try as she might, however, Sophie could see no sign of their errant shadow despite the fresh shards of glass that now littered the cobbles in front of the building. Behind them, the undead slowly clambered forward like a herd of sheep, bleating and groaning at the living before them.

  With a grunt, Mila waited for Elaria and Raylani to clear the way before blocking the main entry shut with whatever rubble they could. Sophie hurried over to help stack what nearby debris she could while Sophia and Raylani hauled one of the outer barricades over to bar the door. Sir Taurox and the knights were trained, against undead of this caliber, she doubted that they’d even break a sweat. Even still, if the rest of them were to search the guild hall, it would only prove troublesome if even a few of the dead broke containment and awakened the rest of the city.

  They braced the barricade for a moment or two, waiting as the undead threw themselves upon it. Their armored pieces and boney hands clattered ineffectually against the wooden stakes, too malnourished and weak to do more than slightly rattle it.

  Confident that it would hold for long enough, Sophie traded a quick nod with the others before turning her attention back to the city’s roads. She didn’t know what exactly she was looking for, but just as she had expected, of their mysterious interloper, there was no trace.

  Dammit, she cursed in her head.

  Sophia shot her a glance, her sister’s mouth upturned in a small grin, as if delighted by Sophie’s consternation. Sophie for her part, offered up a small glare before collecting herself.

  “We ought to keep moving. I doubt we can catch the stranger at this point. But we can still make it to the guild before this whole quarter wakes up.” She murmured to no one in particular.

  For a moment there was silence and the dead. A lull as they each gathered their own thoughts before Mila offered her own affirmations.

  “Aye. We should make haste to the merchant’s guild. But keep an eye out, as they just demonstrated…” The girl jabbed a thumb towards two undead guardsmen doubled over the barricade, haplessly trying to get past it.

  “We’re not alone here.” Sophie finished the thought.

  The inquisitor let out a soft grunt before resuming her place in the formation. Sophie just sighed. Why do I get a feeling that today’s troubles only just started?