"You were wrong, Ranger Verhen. The darkness array wasn't for the Teks, but for us intruders." Neshal said. "If you had stepped through the Gate, the darkness spell would have tried to kill you right after sealing the dimensional door.
"Using the Odi's runes is too dangerous. It's better to go through the front door and clear our path one bit at a time instead of jumping feet first into a trap."
"How long before we can resume exploring Kulah?" Lith asked.
"At least a couple of days. I recommend four days so that we can use fire magic without risking to suffocate. Judging from the Golems' behavior, the Odi worked hard to prevent intruders from using powerful fire spells, so by messing with that we might have an easier time countering their defenses."
"Agreed. We only have to wait now." Phloria said.
Since he had nothing to do, Lith went inside the men's quarters. He used earth magic and the Hush spell to get some privacy. Then, he took out his army amulet and called his handler while using Accumulation.
Feeding the amulet enough energy to counter the interference was child's play for him. Unlike fake mages, Lith could freely manipulate his mana core.
***
Meanwhile, on Mogar's surface, the sudden pull at her consciousness made Kamila flinch. She anxiously took her communicator out of her purse to check if it was the Human Resources.
They were in charge of informing Constables if something happened to their relatives. Lith had disappeared off the face of Mogar for almost two weeks and to make matters worse, Fallmug was missing as well.
After Zinya had petitioned for divorce, he had tried multiple times to contact Kamila to discover his wife's whereabouts, failing every single time. She had never shared her contact rune with him and had blocked her mother's the moment Zinya had received her own communication amulet.
Her family was now officially dead to her. Yet she couldn't help but worry that something had happened to Lith or that Fallmug had found Zinya, so Kamila was on edge at the idea of receiving bad news.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from that thing during our lessons?" Jirni said, stabbing their prisoner in his tight with one of her needles.
"Whatever it is, it can wait."
"Lith's rune is active! He's calling me." Kamila ignored the man's screams and showed Jirni the blinking rune, almost jumping for the joy.
"What are you waiting for? Answer immediately, I haven't heard from neither him nor my daughters for days!" Jirni planted a mouth gag on the prisoner with a well-placed fist, which also dislocated his jaw so that it would not need straps to secure it.
"But first: Royal override. Identification: Archon Jirni Ernas. Password of the day: Sylpha, Silverwing, Knight, Blue." All the magic crystals on Kamila's amulet lit up at once.
"I've activated the secure line. No one can listen to your conversation, not even the army."
"Thanks! There are so many things I can't say as a handler." Kamila couldn't believe her luck.
"If you really want to thank me, once you two are done, put him on. I need to speak to him as well. While we are at it, use meeting room number three. It's the only one without recording devices." Jirni said.
"Will do! I'll try to be quick."
"There's no rush dear. We're done for today." Jirni's words surprised the prisoner quite a bit. He had been captured during a slave auction and identified as one of its ringleaders.
He had been interrogated for days before Constable Ernas resorted to using more violent approaches. He had yet to say anything. He was aware that the moment he had nothing to offer they would execute him.
'The longer I hold on, the more time my accomplices have to get me out of here.' He thought. 'They have to, otherwise a lot of noble heads will roll. I have no intention of dying alone.
'This stupid woman has even given me the means to contact my associates. With her password, I can easily bribe a guard and safely use their communication amulet.'
Jirni seemed to read his mind, because the more confident he became, the wider her grin grew.
"You know, it's hard to find scum like you." Jirni said. "That's the reason you're still alive. My apprentice is still naïve, so when I saw you, I knew you would be a tough nut to crack.
"I used you to allow her to practice all the normal interrogation techniques and develop her own. Then, when as predicted you didn't talk, my aim was to use you to not make her feel guilty for what she was going to do. Everyone has to start somewhere.
"This call changes everything, though. We both deserve some quality time with our families and I hate leaving a job halfway through, so…." She struck both of his lungs with thin, hollow needles.
At first, the prisoner felt barely a sting. Then, he realized he couldn't breathe anymore. The air entered from his nose and mouth, but it was as if someone was choking him.
"That's called a pneumothorax. I punctured your lungs so that no matter how much air you draw in, they can't fill up because it leaks and fills your thoracic cavity. You'll die in about eight minutes, without being able to talk or even cry.
"If you're lucky, she'll be done soon. I always confirm my kills, so the moment that door opens, I'll give you a quick death." Jirni noticed the confusion in the man's eyes, all the unanswered questions that were keeping the pain at bay.
"Do you really think by remaining silent you had any chance of survival? In my line of work, the first one to talk gets the better deal. Your accomplices were smarter than you and told us everything we needed.
"Some of them will go free, others will serve a sentence. You instead, were nothing but a teaching prop since the beginning."
In the meeting room three, Kamila was overjoyed seeing that Lith was alright. He couldn't tell her much about his mission, so she was the one speaking for most of the time.
"These ruins are a pain in the neck. Between the constant danger and communication blackout, I really missed you." There were many things he would have liked to ask her, but the army amulet triggered his paranoia too much.
The idea that someone could listen to their conversation kept him on the edge despite Jirni's reassurances.
"Why are you still working on the weekend? I hoped to reach you while you were still at my place, to 'casually' talk with my family."
"The weekend ended yesterday, silly." She giggled. "You must have lost track of the days."
"Damn, I think you are right. How is everyone?"
Kamila told him the last news about his family. Tista had finally started her journey, sending everyone in a panic. It was the first time that she traveled completely alone and her absence complicated things even more now that Rena was pregnant.
"Oh gods! Not again!" Lith blurted out.
"Your sister is very young and her family is wealthy. Why shouldn't she have more than one child?" Kamila found Lith's reaction somewhat disturbing. She had never considered having children of her own, but such a fierce denial made her scared of the future.
