The Next Day
Dawn broke over Town Dera like a slow-breathing beast.
Fog coiled through the empty streets, and the air smelled of wet stone and old smoke.
Alex adjusted the coarse brown tunic he wore—identical to the ones supply workers used.
Raven was already waiting by the stables, leaning casually against a wooden post, arms crossed, red scarf tucked beneath his collar.
"You're late," Raven said without looking.
"I was studying the patrol shifts again. You missed one."
Raven smirked. "That's why I brought you."
Behind them, two wagons were being loaded with crates—marked with medical symbols and ration seals. A pair of older workers waved them forward without question.
The disguises worked.
They joined the line in silence.
The dungeon gate wasn't grand or arcane like those in legends.
No glowing runes. No spiraling portals.
Just a massive metal door embedded into the cliffside, with rotating sigils that only stopped spinning when one of Thorne's Fang pressed his palm against a sealed plate.
Today, it was a man with a scar slashing across his lips and a crimson fang tattooed along his neck.
He didn't even glance at the workers as the gate unlocked.
The wagons creaked forward.
And just like that—
They were inside.
Inside the Dungeon
The temperature dropped almost instantly.
Not the chill of a cave, but a dead cold. Sterile. As if the warmth had been swallowed by something ancient and never returned.
Alex's eyes adjusted quickly.
The walls were stone—but too clean, too uniform.
This wasn't natural.
It had been shaped. Designed. Long ago.
Torches flickered on at timed intervals, activated by mechanisms Alex didn't understand.
The supply wagons rolled down a separate hallway, disappearing into the depths.
Raven tugged Alex's sleeve and pulled him into a narrower passage, marked:
"Sector Three – Perimeter Storage."
He stopped near a wooden door and pushed it open.
"This is where I stashed the gear. Get ready," he whispered.
Inside, two cloaks, a pair of lesser healing vials, and a hand-drawn map of the dungeon's first level were laid out.
Alex examined the items. "You planned this well."
"I've been here before. Just needed someone to watch my back," Raven replied, glancing over. "You really killed a sentry, huh?"
Alex didn't answer.
Raven chuckled. "You and I are gonna get along just fine."
"No," Alex said quietly, eyes fixed on the dark corridor ahead. "We're just walking the same road. Don't mistake it for friendship."
Raven grinned. "Not yet, then."