Chapter 56: Inside the Spider’s Web
The scene shifts, going back a short while,
Billy didn’t hesitate, stepping into the darkness. Bryan and Malkor, still bewildered but trusting Billy’s lead, quickly followed him down the earthen ramp.
The passage was long and winding, lit by occasional, dim magical lights set into the rough-hewn stone walls. After several minutes of descent, the passage opened into a much larger, wider corridor.
And this corridor was nothing like the crude, bloody tunnels of the Crestport hideout.
This place was enormous, a vast underground complex. The main corridor they now stood in was wide enough for a carriage to pass through, its ceiling high and arched, carved from solid rock.
Torches burned brightly in sconces along the walls, illuminating the passage clearly. What surprised Bryan and Malkor the most, however, was who they saw walking around.
There were numerous soldiers patrolling the corridor, but they weren’t wearing the usual rough, mismatched gear of Syndicate thugs. These soldiers wore the distinctive bright red uniforms and gleaming golden armor of the Roland Kingdom’s Royal Army! They moved with military discipline, their weapons polished, their expressions serious.
Interspersed among these Roland soldiers were several individuals dressed in the dark, flowing robes of mages, their faces often hidden by deep hoods. They too seemed to be patrolling or heading towards specific destinations within the base.
Even more unsettling, Bryan noticed groups of ordinary-looking people – men and women dressed in simple, sometimes ragged, commoner clothes – moving through the corridors.
They were sweeping floors, carrying supplies, or performing other menial tasks under the watchful eyes of the Roland soldiers. But around each of these commoners’ necks was a thick, black metal collar. And embedded in the center of each collar was a small, dull crystal that pulsed with a faint, ugly light. Slaves.
Bryan stared at the collared workers, a frown creasing his face. He recognized some of the clothing styles; these people weren’t from the Roland Kingdom. "So," Bryan muttered, more to himself than to Billy, "these are the ones you kidnap from other lands? The ones you bring here as slaves to do your dirty work?"