She had simply expected to walk through the Markandon-Othary Gate, setting her Fast Travel option number two there, and walk back. However, when Louisa Grey arrived at the Othary side, she immediately saw why none of her team had crossed back yet.

There was a small improvised wooden sign next to the Gate. The presence of a sign was an anomaly in itself, but the text itself was even more surprising.

Group of six lost in Laby from London attack. Searching lairs to unlock Markandon.

“What’s that thing?” Beresford asked.

“Looks like a ‘help wanted’. But why?” Howard pondered.

“Let me look,” Louisa said, pushing aside her teammates.

She examined the make, wear, and general aspect of the sign, looking for additional clues. The sign was, of course, relatively recent, or she wouldn’t have found it. But deep scratches, wood that was definitively not from the forests of Markandon… She straightened and thought for a short while.

“Looks completely cobbled together from random local stuff. And it’s fresh. Someone carved that thing a couple of days ago at best.”

“Okay, but why say that you’re lost? You can’t get lost in the Labyrinth. There’s always Recall the next day if you’re out of travel options,” Howard insisted.

“The other thing is that this is the only entry to this branch. You don’t need to unlock Markandon, it will always be available since that’s the only way you could have come in,” Jenkinson added.

“Which means…” Louisa said, looking at her team.

After a short pause when no one replied, she added, “Come on. It means they never came through here.”

“But that’s just impossible,” Jenkinson insisted.

“They write they’re from ‘London attack’. Use your thick head, Charles.”

The Cautious Monolith looked briefly affronted from the chiding from his team’s leader before admitting defeat.

“We still do not know what happened in London. There’s supposition about some French plot, but nobody knows for sure. If these people were there, they might know more about what happened,” she explained.

“Still doesn’t explain why they say they’re lost in here.”

“Does this mean… that the Gate is shut because it has opened here instead? I mean… in one of the tier-ones next door?” Beresford suddenly asked.

“Can’t see how it would. They wouldn’t be lost in that case, they would simply cross back to London anytime. No, I think they got caught in transit. They were coming into the Labyrinth, maybe fleeing that attack, and they got stuck here instead of exiting in Grailburg. And they have lost their settings by being diverted somehow, who knows. You can lose your Recall easily, after all,” she replied.

Roland Howard scratched his small beard before adding, “and in that case, they’re probably low tier, or they wouldn’t be worried about unlocking Markandon. And they might not even have a global map. Low tier Professionals never carry any of the Archive Reference books, the starter areas are too well travelled.”

Louisa acquiesced.

“That sounds what I thought.”

“So what do we do about it?” Beresford asked.

Louisa had already a plan.

“We have a mission, and that mission should come first. But I have two fast travel charges available. Anyone got more?”

The rest of the team had only two as well, save for Charles Jenkinson.

“Got three.”

“Hoarder,” Howard’s laconic tone belied the comment.

“So, it’s going to be easy. You’re going to use one charge to get to Gatepost and report to Charlotte. Tell her about that six people team in Othary and ask her what the new priorities are. Then you use your second charge to get back here, and we’ll do whatever she decides.”

Jenkinson looked dubious but bowed to Lady Grey. He turned back and walked straight into the Gate.

“Six people? From a London attack? That’s… quite unexpected,” Crown Princess Charlotte said.

“Lady Grey wanted you to be notified without delay,” Jenkinson said. He immediately added, “And she wants to know if the priority is still the USA expedition. If we have people from London…”

Charlotte Wales wasn’t a Calculating Tactician for nothing. Decisiveness and problem solving came naturally with that type of build, regardless of what anyone said about numbers reflecting people’s minds and personality or not.

“It is. Even if these people were caught in some kind of attack on the Gate, they will not know what happened after they got in the Labyrinth. I’ve got all kinds of scenarios about how you could damage gates. Maybe someone managed to drag a high-tier beast across Gates. Given what one finds in the deeper parts of the Labyrinth, I still shudder to think what devastation might have been visited in London. No, your mission takes priority and is unchanged.”

Jenkinson bowed, acknowledging the orders.

“I will improvise something here. Most of the high-tier teams are out in the zones that we know seem to border the French sector, in case there’s a move by them through the Labyrinth. I only have a bunch of low tiers around, but at worst I can cobble some expedition to get to them the slow way by slogging through the Great Line. A mid-tier three might be able to.”

She waved Jenkinson away.

“Don’t worry about it. Put a sign back saying that rescue is on the way and that they don’t go beyond Markandon if they truly want help. Just… don’t put a time on that rescue,” she added with a twist of the mouth.

Howard was putting on a wood board, crudely carved with his sword point.

Gatepost Notified. Expedition coming, don’t leave Markandon/Othary.

“Do you think they’ll see it?”

“I don’t see why not. If it’s not a hoax, they are probably going to come back this way regularly anyway,” Beresford said.

“And that’s all we can do for now. Come on, gentlemen, we have quite a way to go before we get to the USA,” Louisa Grey added, gesturing toward the Gate.