Chapter 11: Echoes at the Outpost
The gates of the outpost creaked open slowly, revealing a courtyard eerily still. Smoke drifted from the chimney of the main hall, but no voices called out, no soldiers stood guard.
Mario raised his shield. "Anyone else getting a bad feeling?"
Emma nodded. "Too quiet."
Caroline led the group cautiously inside. The walls were scratched, some stained dark. Broken crates lay scattered. A sword, still stained with blood, was half-buried in the mud.
"Looks like something happened here," Lena whispered.
Sofia walked over to a small barracks and nudged the door open with her mace. "There's no one here. Just… abandoned gear."
They gathered near the center of the courtyard, where a cracked map table had been left uncovered. Pins marked routes. Supply lines. Patrol areas.
"This was definitely active until recently," Caroline said.
Emma crouched, inspecting the map. "No signs of a siege. No breach in the gates. No arrows stuck in the walls. It's like they vanished."
Mario paced slowly, scanning the towers.
Then a sound—a wheeze—broke the silence.
"Up there!" Sofia shouted, pointing to the upper platform.
They rushed up the wooden stairs and found a man—mid-thirties, dressed in scout armor—slumped against the railing. Pale. Shaking. Bleeding from a jagged gash across his side.
"Don't move," Emma said, kneeling. She pressed a potion vial to his lips and watched as he drank.
He coughed and groaned, eyes fluttering open. "You're… not from the outpost…"
Caroline stepped forward. "What happened here?"
He swallowed hard. "Ambushed. Last night. From underground. Things with… claws. Too fast. We weren't ready."
"Where are the others?" Mario asked.
"Gone. Taken. Dragged into tunnels beneath the cliffs. I hid… I waited…"
He passed out again.
Lena looked around. "We need to get reinforcements."
Mario shook his head. "There might not be time. If others are still alive down there—"
Just then, a loud ding echoed from their guild badges.
Emma pulled hers out. A glowing message scrolled across the surface:
[New Urgent Quest: Subterranean Rescue]
Investigate the hidden tunnels beneath Outpost Teryn. Locate any survivors. Report or eliminate hostiles. Rewards scaled by performance.
Mario clenched his fists. "Of course. No such thing as a quiet mission."
Caroline rolled her shoulders. "We rest one hour. Then we go in."
Sofia sighed. "Do all your worlds come with horror levels unlocked?"
Emma smiled faintly. "Only the good ones."
The team gathered around a fire pit and began preparing—repairing gear, checking potions, sharpening blades.
From beneath the cliffs, a faint breeze carried with it the scent of rot.