Chapter 65: Chapter Sixty-Five: Return to the Surface

After a short break and some food, it was time to head up the staircase. From the bottom it looked as if it went on forever and Lillia was right, it was tight for space. There wasn’t enough room to give Siofra or Serin a hand up the stairs. It really would be difficult to stop for any length of time once we started climbing. Stopping for the night would be out of the question. Perhaps there would be landings on each of the floors as we climbed, but that was something we could only find out once we'd started.

It wasn’t as if Serin or Siofra were looking particularly wobbly or anything. It was just concern about what was going to happen once fatigue started to set in, on top of their injuries. This wasn’t going to be a quick climb out. It took us nearly two days to walk all the way down here, admittedly this was hopefully a much shorter route, a direct passage. That was if this even led to the top. Either way, no one wanted to hang around down here, or try get through the thick steel door and fight our way back up through any monsters that may remain.

Climbing the stairs wasn’t pleasant. Injured or not after you’ve climbed a hundred steps, you’ve climbed enough. That was how I felt pretty early on into our climb. Even if we were taking things slowly, it still wasn’t fun. There was absolutely no sign of landings on any of the floors on the way up to the surface. After at least an hours’ worth of solid climbing our way was once again barred by a heavy door. Just like the entrance to the stairwell it was locked shut with heavy metal bar.

“Theo, I could do with a hand again.” Altria shouted down the stairs to me.

I somehow managed to squeeze my way past the others on the staircase and made my way to Altria. We soon lifted the bar from the door and pushed it open. Daylight flooded in through the gap. It was still daylight outside; I’d already lost track of time underground. After my eyes adjusted, I realised that it was only bright compared to the torchlight in the stairwell.

Altria and I both walked through the door a short distance. We came out of a small cave mouth, it seemed to exit somewhere in the forest that lay behind the ruins of the fort. It was hard to tell under the tree cover, but it had to be late afternoon at the earliest. We would be lucky to make it back to the town before night fell.

As Altria and I stood there, taking in the fresh outside air the rest of the group gradually emerged from the cave and joined us. It hadn’t been an easy climb for any of us, and as the whole party assembled in the wood, we all found somewhere to sit and rest without saying a word.

“Well, I’m glad to finally be out of there and back into the fresh air.” Announced Siofra, stretching her arms as she sat against a tree.

“It is nice to be back in the sunlight again.” Agreed Serin.

As nice as it was to be able to sit in the light of day and rest on the relatively safe forest floor, we couldn’t stay there long. We had probably been sat for about ten minutes, when Lillia finally got up and tried to will the group back into motion.

“I know you would all like to rest a little longer, but we should make a move. I’d like us to make it back to town before night falls. We’re out of the dungeon, but it isn’t entirely safe here.”

There was a sense of an inaudible groan from each of us, but we all knew that she was right. We had to make it back to the town before we could really rest easy and it would be safer to travel there while we still had the light. No one said anything in complaint, they just climbed to their feet and got ready to move again.

“One more push, then a hot bath and cooked meal awaits us. Might as well get going.” Serin said as she picked up her gear.

“I’m definitely feeling the bath, I think it is going to be my first stop when we make it back.” I said to Serin.

“Well, you’re in for a treat. Nothing quite like the sensation of a hot bath after a quest like this.”

The thought of getting to relax properly once we had cleared the final leg of journey spurred the others into action and before long the entire party was ready to go again.

“Ready when you are Lillia.” Altria said while walking ahead a few meters into the wood.

“Good. How's it looking?” Lillia asked.

“Clear as far as I can see.”

“Then we’ll move, please take the lead Altria.”

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“Of course.”

Without hanging around further we got back underway. Altria scouting someway up ahead, followed by Lillia and Siofra, while Serin and I took up the rear. It was only about a ten minute walk, from where we had emerged from the cave, to the edge of the woods. We stepped out of the woods, a short distance to the side of crumbling fort where our quest had begun.

“Do you think it’s safe around here now?” I asked Serin as we skirted past the side of the fort.

“Safer, that’s for sure. I doubt there are any guards left patrolling the roof like when we arrived, and I expect that most of the monsters have stopped spawning inside. Then again, we didn’t completely clear the place and there is bound to be things down there we missed.” She explained.

“We aren’t likely to be attacked as we pass though?”

“I doubt it, but best to keep your guard up until we’re back onto the open plain.”

“Right.”

Another ten minutes of walking and the old fort was now a safe distance behind us. We were far enough into the plains that surrounded Lintz now, that any ranged shots from the fort would fall well short of us and any enemies approaching us were easily visible from a long way out. I felt considerably safer now than I had done for days.

Now we were out in the open, I could make a good guess at the time. It looked to be early evening, perhaps seven at the latest. Even if we took a little longer on our walk back, than it took to get here, we would be back by around eight. We would be back in the daylight and hopefully before the town’s gates were closed for the day.  

Of course, the walk back to town did end up taking longer than the way out. There wasn’t a single one among us that had the energy to try and push the pace back, no matter how much they wanted a warm bath or meal. Everyone was worn, and now the threat of immediate danger was removed, we had relaxed into a slow pace.

We reached the town after an hour and a half of walking. There was no queue to enter, but that wasn’t strange for Lintz even at this time of day. As we reached the guard house at the entrance to town, the guards briefly glanced over us before waving us in. After that it was just a short walk across town to the guild house and we were back.

“You can all head to your rooms and the baths if you so wish. I’ll make the report to the guild at the desk.” Lillia said as we stepped inside the guild hall.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind going with you.” Serin offered.

“Yeah. It only takes one of us to make the report. There’s no queue, so I don’t expect it will be long before I can join you all. Don’t worry, I’ll ask the clerk to split the reward equally.”

“Okay then, we’ll leave you to it.” Laughed Serin.

“Just remember to meet here for dinner after you’ve all cleaned up. It might not have been a complete success, but we still need to celebrate a quest completed!” Lillia instructed as we all started to go our separate ways.

“Don’t worry Lillia, we’ll all see you back here if we don’t see you before.” Altria answered before leaving Lillia in the hall.

I headed upstairs with the rest of the party as we each went to our own rooms. All I did was step inside and dump my gear. After what Serin had said earlier, I had been desperate to jump into the bath the whole time we walked back. It was going to be my next stop no doubt about it. I chucked my gear into the corner and ditched my armour then headed back out and down to the baths. If I was lucky, I would have them to myself, or at least be the first in there.

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