Chapter 21: 21: Troglodytes

You stand on the edge of the forest and consider your options. Just straight up walk up to the gates?

“Gamma, how many enemies are we dealing with?” you ask one of the two bunny girls that you brought.

“Enemies?” Gamma tilts her head.

Oh, right! Who her enemies are it still a gray area. “How many men and women are in that outpost?”

“Hm,” Gamma looks up and thinks, putting her index finger to her lower lip. “Give or take, about two hundred.”

T-two hundred!? Your mouth opens but no words come out. You collect yourself. It’s fine! If they’re the same as the ones who attacked us yesterday, we can handle it.

“Are any of them as strong as Chi or stronger?” you ask the vital question.

“Her brother, probably… Other than that—don’t know. It never came up.”

“Is there another way inside the outpost?”

“Dunno,” Gamma shrugs.

Useless—You get frustrated at Gamma’s vague responses. Is she avoiding giving you specific answers? She didn’t seem like the type. Is she just clueless? I do have another source of information, you think and look at Alpha.

“Is there another way inside, Alpha?” You ask the petite bunny girl.

“No,” Alpha says with her eyes fixed on the nearest tree. “My body does not have any additional holes, but—”

“NO!! Jesus! Stop!” You scream to interrupt the preposterous misunderstanding as soon as possible. “I meant “is there another way into the outpost”! You, know, like a secret passage or something? For escape or smuggling?”

“There is a path into the mountains over there.” Alpha turns and points deeper into the forest. “But the tunnels inside are a maze infested with troglodytes.”

“By troglodytes, I hope, you mean the small, brown birds?” you ask her, understanding that there is no hope that is the case.

“Yes, troglodytes are birds,” Alpha confirms your question.

“Really?” You’re wide-eyed in surprise. “So, the caves are filled with small birds?”

“Correct,” Alpha’s tone never changes.

“My Lord,” Ariadne speaks up quietly and approaches you. “I’m afraid someone might have heard your screams. There’s some commotion on one of the towers.”

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“Then it’s decided—we go to the tunnels” You inform the party. “Alpha, lead the way. And do quicken your pace.”

Without saying a word Alpha goes in the direction she pointed to before at triple pace. You follow Alpha, with Gamma and Ariadne close behind.

Is this a race walking marathon now? You wonder when you’re forced to run to keep up with Alpha, who walks at the speed of an average bicycle rider. Still, a morning jog in the green forest, while breathing fresh morning air was strangely invigorating. Especially after your supposed “home”. You shudder at the thought.

You look back, past Ariadne, who eyes Gamma as she runs—effortlessly mind you and without breaking a sweat—with her gigantic shields. Nobody seems to be following us, you think and try to relax. But you can’t. Even if keeping up this pace is effortless for your subordinates, your right side is already hurting. After two minutes you’re gasping for air and decide to put a stop to this insanity before you embarrass yourself.

“Alpha, slow down!” You shout before you collapse. “I don’t want us running into an ambush!”

Alpha slows down and now just walks at a normal pace. By the time your heartbeat returns to normal, you approach the stiff mountainside. You have to walk right up to the nearly horizontal rock wall before you notice a crack in the uneven surface.

“Have either of you ever been inside here?” You ask the bunny girls.

“No,” they answer in unison.

“Well, first time for everything. After you,” you say and gesture them to go inside. When Ariadne comes closer you whisper to her, “Stay close to them. If either one tries to run after turning a corner…”

Ariadne just nods with an understanding smile. Her expression is adorable. Is it “despite of”, or “because” she so willingly accepted your order to be ready for murder?

You sigh the moment you take your first step into the tunnel. Dark, narrow, cold—it seems disturbingly familiar. Ariadne lights up her crystal and you follow her close behind.

The tunnel path widens the deeper you go, but thus far it has just been one, nearly straight path, inclined upward. This continued for some solid ten minutes until you reached an open area inside the mountain, with light shining far above your head. You walk inside and hear a crack. Then another. The bunnies keep crushing something. Then you feel you've stepped on something also. Oh, a bone.

Human bones! Lying all around you in an area nearly the size of the main hall in your mountain residence. And there are not only human bones here. Others belong to different four-legged animals. One particular skull catches your attention. It must have once belonged to a bear. But the size of the head implies a body so massive that it could have never fitted through the narrow entrance into the tunnel even if cut in half! And there is not a shred of meat on any of the bones.

You look up—it must be sunlight! Shining from an opening high above. Then you see something move and obstruct the light. Then you hear high-pitched screeching that echoes through the cave. Several small objects are descending fast upon you. They have wings.

“Troglodytes!” Ariadne says and prepares her axe.

No less than twenty of the small birds are approaching you fast.

I have a bad feeling about this, you think when you sense a killing intent that surpasses Beta's from earlier. One of the birds rapidly accelerates its dive and flies straight into Alpha, knocking her hard into the rocks.

"Fight back you moron!" You shout when you see Alpha get nearly K.O.'ed by an opponent the size of a tennis ball. "Gamma, you too!"

Gamma raises her shields and you duck behind them.

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