He felt quite annoyed, fuming at the girl's disrespect. He walked away with a scowl on his face, but it was suddenly edged out by recognition.
Doeg remembered who the girl was.
The memory surfaced slowly, like something rising through muddy water.
Back when he had still been travelling with Ronan and Khalifa, there had been a strange moment in the forest. They had been walking beneath the canopy when he had looked upward out of instinct. A strange shadow, cast by what couldn't be trees, along with a rustle that moved to no winds caught his attention.
A girl had been crouched high on a branch.
Silent.
Watching them.
And beside her had been the Owl.
He had recognized immediately that exposing her would cause problems. He had also been too lazy to engage in any battles then. At the time, he had already been walking on unstable ground Ronan and Khalifa. Stirring suspicion or conflict would have only complicated things further.
So he had said nothing.
He had simply continued walking with the others, pretending he had seen nothing.
Now, standing outside the prison cell, the image aligned perfectly with the face he had just seen behind the bars.
Mira.
That was her name. The name Ronan had called once or twice before.
Doeg paused briefly in the corridor of the cave.
But the realization didn't excite him.
If anything, it bored him.
Knowing who she was didn't help him in the slightest. He had no quarrel with her. No history worth revisiting. No advantage to gain by exposing her now. Besides she was as exposed as can be. Chamber had already done its research, so she had little to hide. And what he knew now, was most likely not one of them.
In truth, she meant nothing to his plans.
And Doeg had plans far larger than petty conflicts. Domination.
So he simply decided to let her go.
He continued down the passage without another thought.
***
Mira and Thea were losing it.
Or rather, Thea was.
Mira had found a way to cope with the hunger.
Whenever the gnawing emptiness grew too strong, she cycled her spirit through her body . She had been long dormant in the corridor, so she had enough spirit to use for now.
When she was done, the hunger was still there—but dulled, manageable.
Thea had no such escape.
She had already been battered before she even received the mark.
Bruises covered her body. Her muscles constantly trembled from exhaustion.
And the mark only made things worse.
It pulled spirit from her constantly.
A slow, invisible drain that left her feeling hollow every waking moment.
Her head rested against the cold stone wall as she breathed slowly, trying to keep the dizziness away. Light headedness crowded her.
She couldn't do anything about it.
The information the Chamber wanted wasn't hers to give.
Her fate rested entirely in Mira's hands.
And she wouldn't beg.
Thea squeezed her eyes shut.
This had been her fault from the beginning.
Her weakness had indirectly led them here.
So all she could do now was endure and hope that Mira eventually chose to speak. And if she didn't...
Thea didn't want to think about it.
***
The man who had interrogated them walked along the outskirts of the cave where the Chamber had established its headquarters.
His eyes moved constantly.
Searching.
Watching the trees.
Every few seconds his gaze flickered in another direction. Darting around.
Then suddenly a figure emerged from behind one of the trunks.
The person looked almost like part of the forest.
Vines wrapped around their torso.
Strips of grass and leaves hung loosely from their shoulders.
The interrogator relaxed slightly when he saw them.
"Is it ready?" he asked quietly.
The camouflaged figure tilted their head.
"Not yet," he replied.
"It needs more time."
The interrogator frowned slightly.
"But it will be ready before we relocate," the figure continued calmly.
That answer seemed to satisfy him. Barely.
The person standing before him was one of the individuals assigned to search for a new location for the Chamber's next base.
The man nodded.
"Good."
The figure stepped backward slowly.
Then slipped into the trees and vanished almost instantly.
But before disappearing completely, he glanced once more at the interrogator.
And admired something interesting.
Fear.
It was hidden well, masterfully.
But it was there.
The man turned and walked back toward the cave.
***
Ronan and Khalifa stood before the rusted metal door of the third floor.
Low growls rumbled from inside.
Ronan tightened his grip on his weapons.
His ink spear twisted and formed beside the stone pickaxe already resting in his other hand.
Khalifa stood nearby with her machete. It was an odd sight to say the least.
She swung it slightly, the motion almost unconscious, trying to saliciate her apprehensive mind.
"Ready?" Ronan asked.
Khalifa nodded.
Ronan kicked the door open.
The metal slammed loudly against the wall.
Darkness spilled out of the room.
Inside, two dozen pairs of eyes stared back at them.
Ronan took the first step in.
But immediately after, a pummeling predator shot him back out. Quick and precise.
The impact threw him several steps backward.
He crashed into the ground with a groan.
Apparently, he couldn't do it alone. He knew that.
Teamwork would have to work its way here.
Khalifa understood instantly.
They wordless synced.
They rushed in together.
The moment they crossed the doorway the predators lunged.
Shadows moved violently through the darkness.
Claws scraped stone.
Teeth snapped through the air.
Growls filling the room.
Almost immediately they realized the problem.
The beasts could see in the dark.
They couldn't.
Khalifa reacted quickly.
Her distortion ability spread outward like a ripple through the room. Stronger than usual.
The predators' movements slowed dramatically.
Their lunges dragged through the air as though the world itself resisted them.
It worked immensely.
But it would only last a short time.
Ronan surged forward before the advantage could fade.
His spear thrust forward with brutal precision, piercing the chest of the nearest predator.
The creature collapsed instantly. It was a weaker one.
Another leapt toward him from the side.
Ronan twisted away, the claws grazing past his shoulder.
His pickaxe came down hard onto the predator's skull.
The blow knocked the beast backward but didn't finish it.
Across the room Khalifa fought desperately.
One predator lunged for her legs.
She stepped aside and slashed downward with the machete, carving a deep line across its back.
Another came from behind.
She spun, forcing it away with a quick kick before it could close its jaws around her arm.
Ronan drove his spear forward again, catching another predator beneath the ribs.
He ripped the weapon free just as two more lunged toward him simultaneously.
He ducked under one swipe.
The pickaxe swung upward, smashing into the jaw of the second beast.
Even slowed, the predators were relentless.
And there were far too many of them.
A third creature crashed into Ronan from the side, sending him skidding across the stone floor.
He barely rolled away before its claws struck where his chest had been.
Ronan scrambled upright and drove the spear through its side.
The creature shrieked before collapsing. But it still wasn't dead. It huffed.
Khalifa's distortion field trembled slightly.
Maintaining it was draining her spirit quickly.
Sweat formed along her brow.
Another predator leapt for her throat.
She leaned backward just in time, the jaws snapping inches from her face.
Her machete flashed upward, cutting across its neck.
The creature fell.
But another immediately replaced it.
They quickly realized the truth.
Even with distortion slowing them, the predators were too much to handle.
Each kill required a precise, committed strike.
But the speed the predators attacked with made it nearly impossible to spare more than a split second for those strikes. Making them subpar.
Their survival right now existed only because the distortion was slowing the beasts.
Once Khalifa ran out of spirit—
It would be over.
Ronan pushed another predator away with the shaft of his spear and glanced toward the doorway.
And froze.
The predators had shifted.
They were no longer attacking blindly.
They were moving with a strange coordination.
Gradually surrounding them.
Closing the space.
Blocking the exit.
Within seconds the doorway behind them vanished beneath a wall of moving bodies.
The predators had sealed the entrance.
They were trapped.