“Daisy!” Devin called down the alleyway, trying to remain hushed enough that his voice would not carry but loud enough that she would hear. Murton was still berating poor Griff, drowning out other noises.

“Shut your damned face you stupid Dwarf,” Devin hissed at him. Murton’s tirade stopped as he turned slowly toward Devin, his eyes opening just enough to allow a squint of eye through.

“We can discuss your complaints later, right now we need to get the hell out of here,” Devin said. Murton glared at him, then looked back at Griff, looking slightly sheepish as he did so.

“I guess I got a little carried away. Sorry about that Griff, been a tough couple of days.”

Griff grunted and knelt down to the dwarf, “No hard feelings, little one.”

Murton started to turn red again and looked as if he was about to argue when Devin shot him a withering glare, and snapped his mouth shut before he could speak.

“Daisy!” he called a little louder. The orc whipped her head around toward him. He beckoned her over with a wave. She came trotting over, the bag-like garment fluttering roughly against her emaciated form.

“Come put your finger in this brick,” he said as she neared. To his surprise she nodded and trotted over to the glowing brick without breaking her stride. She extended her pointer and placed it softly in the indentation that formed. The glow pulses yellow a few times then diminished. She withdrew her hand and he saw the indentation was gone.

“Did that work?” he asked nervously, eyes locked on the now normal wall.

She shrugged, “It might. I’ve been out for a long time, but I don't think they removed me from the locks yet. My removal wasn’t official or sanctioned or anything.”

“Removal? Removal from what?” Devin asked. Before she could answer him the brick started to shimmer, waving in the air like a reflection in a pond, before going solid again.

“Perfect!” Daisy said, grinning from tusk to broken tusk. “I’m still in. Take that Dahlia, you sororicidal monster!”

Devin stared at her in open confusion. “What in the world are you talking about? Did it work?”

Nodding, she said, “Yep. It's unlocked now. Everyone else should go in first. Once I go through it will close back up in about three seconds, as long as they haven't changed that. Safety feature in case of pursuit.”

“Perfect. Teryn, Murton, Griff, get over here. We are going into the wall immediately.”

The three jogged over and stood before the wall with him. No one moved before Devin finally asked, “So do we just walk in?”

“Yeah, like this.” Shia said as she walked toward the wall. As she approached it, the wall shimmered slightly and she passed right through. Devin started a little and Teryn walked right up, passing through the wall. Murton and Griff followed through quickly after.

Devin did not hear a sound from the other side and took a deep breath. He walked toward the wall, closing his eyes and scrunching his face as he neared, expecting to run into rough brick. He felt a slight tingle across his skin and opened his eyes back up.

He was standing on the inside of what looked like a small warehouse. Several desks were strewn about the floor in a haphazard fashion, empty except for the occasional unlit candle. Above him walkways of metal ran the edges of the room. Sunlight streamed in through large windows that ran parallel to the walkways.

Something brushed the back of his left arm and he jumped. Daisy giggled at him as she came through the wall, stepping around him into the room.

“Hmmm,” she hummed as she walked toward the desks. She pulled one of the drawers open and glanced in. She continued to walk around them, pulling each drawer open in turn.

“They must’ve left this one for some reason. It looks like it hasn't been used for some time.” To accentuate her point she ran a finger over the top of the desk nearest to them, leaving a thick smudge of dust on her finger and a long trail on the desk. She wiped the grime between her fingers and flicked it off, turning toward the other desks.

“Well,” she said, “There must be a reason Dahlia wanted us here. Maybe it was the nearest spot she knew we could hide, maybe it has something more inside it. Let's fan out and take a look.”

“Well lad, are we?” Murton asked. The group turned to Devin.

“Are we what?” he asked.

“Doing what she says. I'm not following some strange orc, no matter if she's the sister of who saved us. I follow you, boy.”

The others murmured in agreement, each watching him. The weight of the past couple days hit Devin like a sack of bricks. His mangled hand pulsed with pain, the filthy cloth bandages wrapped around them grating on the cauterized knubs where his fingers used to be. The idea that he was responsible for this group's life seemed too much.

He never signed up for this level of problems or weight. He just wanted to take some contracts, earn some money, and retire comfortably somewhere on the north side of the river. Now there was a conspiracy at the highest level of the town, orcs performing subterfuge, and a group of people he had grown to care about deeply hanging onto his every word as their leader.

It was almost too much for him. Almost. But looking at their eyes as they watched him, ready to jump at his command and see this through together, helped pull him from the brink. He gave a soft smile to them.

“Yeah, let's see if there's any clues on what we can do here. Maybe there is another way out.”

They all nodded and set off in different directions. Murton’s eyes seemed to be open enough he could get around without running into the scattered desks and chairs. Devin frowned as Murton walked toward a ladder that led to the rafters and walkways near the roof.

“Murton,” he called. The dwarf paused and turned toward him, one foot on the first rung of the ladder. “Maybe it's better if you stick to the ground level. I don’t want you to miss something and fall, killing yourself after all we went through to get you back.”

“Relax lad,” Murton replied as he started to climb the ladder. “Us dwarves can handle quite the fall.”

“Don't you live underground?” Shia asked. “What falls would your people face and be able to handle?”

“A gross stereotype,” he grunted in reply, slowly climbing. “One clan of dwarves lives underground and provides intricate jewelry work back in the Old Continent and everyone thinks all dwarves do. We live just as varied lifestyles as you humans and the elves. In fact, I grew up in trees and houses in the air.”

“What?” Shia asked, turning from the desk she was poking around. “Trees? Really? Isn't that where some of Teryn’s people live.”

Teryn chucked from the corner of the room, peering up from her inspection of the floor. “Well, I am only half elf, so there is that. Also, there is a group of wild elves that live in the trees in the Old World, but they are the outcasts of our society, similar to your podunk dwellers.”

“Podunk?” Shia asked, now entirely engrossed in the conversation.

“You know, backwards people who live in a tiny house or town away from any form of civilization.”

“Oh,” Shia said, her face falling a bit. “Like me on a farm?”

“Not necessarily,” Teryn replied, turning back to the floor. “Just because one grows up in a rural area and is invested in agricultural ambitions or background does not make one podunk. Food and crops are essential to all forms of life. Podunk would be the crazy cousin who stockpiles weapons and grows only their own food, which happens to also be an intoxicant or stimulant as well.”

“Like my cousin Foddy and their Bloodroot farm?” Shia said.

Teryn nodded, “Exactly.”

After a moment's pause Shia asked, “Where did you grow up, Teryn?”

“Well, due to my extended life span, I grew up in several areas around the Old World. Mostly though, I grew up in Silvermar, the capital of the Elves.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“It's a large city, much bigger than any you humans have, except maybe Metrope, where elves partake in research for the advancement of society.”

Murton snorted from above the group on the rafters. “As well as the advancement of pleasure too.”

“What was that, dwarf?” Teryn shot him a glare.

“Everyone knows the elves create new ways to pleasure themselves in that city too. It's an orgy of self serving pleasure seekers. Sure, they gave us the trebuchet for a siege engine, replacing those shitty catapults, but they also gave us the feather tickler.”

Shia gaped at the two of them, Murton grinning down with his broken teeth and Teryn glaring up at him, her face turning a slight shade of pink.

“I cannot speak for what each elf does in the Capital, but it is first and foremost for the research of things to develop society and the world.”

“And what did you research during your time there, Teryn?” Murton grinned even wider, his broken lips splitting even more. He cursed and rubbed at his mouth.

“Serves you right for mocking us. Also, it's none of your concern what I studied, it was long before your time and will stand around in the city long after yours and mine as well.”

“Probably an improvement on the feather tick-”

“And that is enough of that discussion,” Teryn interrupted him. “I have found a hatch below this warehouse, leading into the sewers. It seems to be our only option for escape beyond strolling out the front door, er, wall.”

The group rushed over to Teryn. Murton grumbled about just arriving at the top as he shuffled back down the ladder. Teryn rubbed a finger along the floor, revealing a hidden handle.

“Griff, if you would not mind?” She gestured towards the ring on the floor. Griff stepped forward and grabbed it with his right hand. He gave it a strong tug and a large trapdoor lifted away from the floor silently.

Teryn thanked the man and peered into the whole. Devin leaned forward and looked down into inky darkness. The smell of dank air with a slight hint of rot and excrement wafted up into his nose.

“Anyone have a match?” Murton joked as he sniffed the air. Shia and Griff chuckled as Devin and Teyn rolled their eyes at him. Daisy looked down the hole, her face lighting up slightly.

“He’s only half stupid,” she said. “We could use a torch to see what is down there before we start climbing.”

Devin stood up from the hole and nodded. He pointed toward a nearby desk, “Griff, break the legs off that desk. Everyone else, try to find something flammable we can use for the top.”

He turned back toward Daisy, “You have something to light a torch with?”

She shook her head, “No, but I’m sure one of the desks will have something. Even if they abandoned it, they would always leave supplies behind just in case.”

“Who is this ‘they’? Who staffed this and ran it? What are you part of?”

“Was part of,” Daisy corrected. “I was part of ORC, along with Dahlia. Though I suspect she is still part of it if she had her way…”

“ORC? I know you’re an orc. I know Dahlia is one too. That doesn’t explain anything here,” Devin said impatiently.

“Orcin Reconnaissance Crew,” Teryn said as she strolled over, holding a flint and tinder set. “They are part of an elite force of Orcs from their home city, here to keep an eye on humans among other clandestine activities I would imagine.”

Daisy nodded, “I assume Dahlia told you about some of it?”

“She did. She let us into a staffed building you had. It was much larger than this one. A bit more bureaucratic than I expected too.” Teryn shrugged. “I suppose that is the law of nature when it comes to the government being in charge of anything. Accountability and whatnot. Anyways, I found some flint to start a fire. Griff has gathered up enough legs for all of us to have a torch each.”

There was a large crashing sound as Griff smashed two desks together, shattering them.

“Two torches each,” Teryn revised.

“And I found some cloth!” Shia called down from the rafters above them. “There were some blankets up here, stowed away in a small cabinet. They kind of smell, but it’ll be better than whatever we encounter in that sewer hole.”

“Perfect, thank you everyone. Let's get these made and get out of here before the Argenti find us.” Devin said.

“What about the other orc woman?” Murton asked.

“Dahlia?” Daisy said. “She’ll find her way where she needs to go. And if she doesn’t, it's no big deal. I know what she was planning and where to go now.”

“Did she tell you what she was planning?” Shia asked as she jumped down from the ladder. “Care to elaborate to us what our future holds?”

Daisy shrugged, her thin shoulders poking through the cloth she wore. “She didn’t tell me, but it's not hard to figure out. You are all fugitives from the most powerful man in Mossglenn Depot, right?”

They nodded hesitantly.

“And you are now also fugitives from the Argenti, who have your information from Bronn’s people by now too, right?”

They nodded again, looking glum.

“So logically, the city is no longer a safe place for you to be, correct?”

“Please just tell us!” Shia whined.

“Grinnish,” Teryn said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“What?” Devin asked as Murton and Griff both looked at her.

Daisy nodded slowly, “She’s right. We are going to the Orcish capital of Grinnish. It's where our government and all our groups are based out of. She was going to bring you in, get you to spill as much information as you can about this city and what happened, and keep you there while the Orcin Council decides what to do next.”

“So we are trading one prison for another, is that it then?” Devin demanded, bunching his good fist in anger. “All of this was for information from us?”

“In a sense, though, you will be treated fairly there. Your health taken care of, you will be fed, washed, and clothed. You would only be stuck there until they determined a course of action, then likely set free.” Daisy explained.

“Likely? And Orcish city?” Devin asked. All the new information was threatening to wash over him in a wave of dizziness and uncertainty. He shook his head, trying to clear the confusion. “Never mind, we will decide later. Let's get out of the city and determine what we will do next. Also, Daisy, you have some explaining to do to all of us. I want answers, and I’m sure others will agree with me.”

The others nodded as he spoke and she shrugged again. “I’ll answer anything you want. I’ve got no ties to hold me back.”

“Good, now let's set up these torches and get down that stink hole,” He gestured toward the square opening in the floor, the faint waft of sewer smells still coming through.