After forcing back the first wave, the corridor fell into a brief, uneasy lull where only the sound of distant movement and the faint echo of reinforcements gathering beyond the walls filled the space. The group did not linger in it. Lucas immediately adjusted their position, signaling for them to move while the gap still existed, because in a place like this, silence after an alarm was never safety, it was preparation for the next strike.
They regrouped quickly, the emperor still at the center of their formation, supported carefully as they shifted through a side passage that Patrick identified on instinct. Vorde moved ahead to scout intersections, Murray and Darmian covered the rear, while Wesley and Bartho stayed close enough to respond to any sudden breach. Lucas remained near the emperor, his focus divided between their immediate surroundings and the weakening condition of the man they were extracting.
The castle was changing now.
Footsteps were no longer random.
