A lighter, feminine voice spoke next. “Pathetic. Combat hobbs are only good for dying. They’ll be no match for us.” Her voice rose in a titter. “Do you think they even have personal shields? Or will they be wearing physical armor, like the serfs they are?”

I glanced over to see Jada at a ready position, lips pulled back in a vicious snarl. With a gentle movement of my hand, I indicated patience and swung the door closed to a crack again, just enough to hear through.

“How would I know that? We aren’t allowed topside until the affiliate is subordinated,” the male voice responded. He sounded almost bored.

“Oh such a spoil-sport. You know I like the blood, talking about it gets me eager for it,” she growled, a wicked grin evident in her voice. “Like sex.”

The boot-clicks passed the room by, and I slid the doorway open a little further. Jada moved silently, shifting the wall further open to allow her barrel chest and broad shoulders to pass through it.

I nearly shouted in alarm when I slid around the door. The giant spider was in the room with us, as was the dark elf in coveralls, and another guard. They were both facing the other direction, staring out the recently cleared doorway, on the far side of the room. The spider was curled into the far corner, tucked away on the ceiling.

The guard had the other elf in a grip around his neck and appeared to be watching the guards in the hallway as they left. Once they got far enough away, the guard raised a finger to his lips and released the dark elf in coveralls.

The second elf twisted away and saw us. He reacted immediately by raising his arms in surrender.

“Get the guard.” I growled, just loud enough for the helmet to broadcast it. The words weren’t loud, but everyone in the room heard.

Jada rushed forward as the guard whirled around, his former victim forgotten. She gripped his face in a massive paw and clamped down, bending the elf over one knee as she muffled his protests and crushed both throat and chest with her massive paws.

She held the position as the dark elf struggled, but he quickly went limp as his bones began breaking. Jada started with his spine but in her anger broke several more as well. The other elf remained perfectly still, hands raised in surrender but standing between us and the giant spider on the wall.

“Please don’t hurt her, is all I ask,” he whispered.

“Watch them,” I growled. Jada nodded, staying crouched in the shadows.

I slipped over to the doorway and peeked out. It was covered by hanging silks and had waist-high stacks of baskets on either side of the doorway. The residential hallway was filled with dark elves.

Orbs of soft white light shined from the corners, and gave the area a shadowy look, when combined with the silk drapes covering everything. Light and shadow danced in the concrete hallways, now festooned with rugs and fine ebony stone furnishings.

Several lounge areas were populated with delves, basking in the glow of large black orbs, which were hung from the ceilings. The orbs appeared to be black pearls of enormous size, suspended from chains bolted into the concrete roofing.

Groups of delves lounged on long couches, love seats, and lumpy sacks of leather filled with gummy liquid. Their eyes were rolled back in their heads, and each elf writhed in gentle ecstasy. The pearls pulsed with soft black light, and the lounge areas were all focused on a large bowl of steaming liquid, suspended from a tall stand in the center.

There were four lounges in total, spread out around the central common area. Closely packed furnishings spiraled around the pearl, placements chosen for the small ridges and sharp grooves that jutted from the orbs' otherwise smooth surface.

The vapor from the liquid rose to the pearl hanging from the ceiling and rebuffed from its surface, creating a light fog in the area covered by the pearl’s light. Droplets of moisture would form and drip from several variant surfaces on each orb, and the lounges seemed to be positioned beneath the imperfect surface to allow the dark elves to catch droplets with their mouths.

Several had their mouths hanging laxly open, waiting for their next droplet, their next dose.

At the far end of the hallway, standing guard by the elevator, were two taller delves in armor. They lightly conversed with one another and ignored the delves luxuriating in whatever their pearls did for them. The other hallway had a single guard, with bigger weaponry, who appeared to be paying attention.

I ducked my head back inside to avoid his roaming gaze.

Jada growled softly behind me. I turned back and addressed the elf in coveralls, ignoring the giant spider huddled in the far corner.

“You need to tell me where my friend is,” I growled, “right now.”

Slender hands rose in front of his face, pointing down the hallway toward the more serious guard. “Down one floor, in Lady Shireen’s private residence. It is the third room from the nearby staircase, you cannot miss it. There will be two guards with plasma lances standing at alert.”

I hesitated, cocking my helmet to the side. Jada glanced at me, then snarled and turned back to the spider as it moved.

It whimpered and drew its body further up into the corner, tucking its large legs as far in as they would go. It still bulged from the corner. Jada cocked her head and stopped growling but stood still and wouldn’t look away from the huge creature.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Dro’erja, of the House of None,” he said, bowing low. He gesticulated with one hand held to the side as he said House of None, but the motion meant nothing to me.

“Why are you helping us?” I asked. “Against your own, no less.”

Dro’erja blinked repeatedly and sighed. As if he was about to say something he said often but was never able to make truly understood.

“I am afraid I do not care for morties, or the machinations of the great delve houses. My only calling is to Shela, and to the continuation of her life. Swamp-spinners are dying out, and Shela is all I care for in this cruel multi-verse,” he said. The words sounded practiced, and I saw his narrow chest swell with pride.

I pointed to the spider behind him. “That’s Shela?”

He blinked and nodded. “Yes, the last swamp-spinner of House Shireen. It is my duty and life’s greatest honor to care for her.”

Jada rumbled deep in her chest, glaring at the dark elf. I stared at her for a long moment, before turning back to Dro’erja.

“Aid us, and she lives. Understood?”

He nodded immediately. “I have no loyalty toward the House of Shireen.” The dark elf swallowed hard and took a steadying breath. “May I move behind you? My water ration is in that bottle, and I see no reason to save it further.”

Jada stiffened, the wiry hair on her back sticking out as she stared at the dark elf with her teeth bared.

I stepped carefully to the pile of rags and retrieved the banged up metal bottle for him. When I handed it to him, he repeated the same strange bow as before and took it happily. Using both hands to carefully drink without spilling, he emptied the bottle and took a long breath at the end.

“Thank you.” Dro’erja swallowed hard again and nodded at me. “Very much. I would prefer to die without thirst on my tongue.”

“Who says you’re dying?” I asked, casually.

The look in his eyes changed. He blinked, scowled momentarily, and then resumed his former posture. “You have clearly come to kill the interlopers in your basement, which is us. My stated lack of loyalty to the House of Shireen does not appear to matter to your companion.”

I touched the bull’s head ring on my hand and scowled. “I decide if you live or die right now, not her.”

“Unless he was part of taking my Axle,” Jada rumbled from beside me. I frowned and shrugged, with a nod.

“I decide if you live or die, unless you had anything to do with taking our friend.”

Jada glanced at me, but I simply stared at the dark elf in front of us.

He looked between the two of us, before shaking his head and lowering his hands. “I am no threat to you, nor any part of the machinations of House Shireen.” He turned and indicated the spider. “I am web-borne, I care for the great spiders of my home world, long since destroyed.”

“Okay,” I sighed, moving back to check the door again. “This has officially turned into a job interview, and we do not have time for that right now.”

None of the revelers or guards had changed position, but I did see a patrol of three more guards descending the stairs from the first residential level. Walking back to the hidden door, I hauled it open.

“Here’s the deal. You and Shela can leave, right now. Go anywhere on Nu-Earth you like, and take your spider with you,” I started. When he blanched at the concept, I continued, “or, you can wait with her behind this door and become part of this affiliate once I’m done with your old friends.”

His lip twitched in the corner of his mouth, and he immediately shook his head. “They are not my friends, I welcome their slaughter. I will stay where you tell me and join your affiliate, so long as you offer Shela safety.”

Jada moved silently to the doorway. She was shockingly quiet, her bare footpads far more effective at diffusing noise than even my gummy Sleem stomper boots.

I nodded at Dro’erja. “As much as I can offer it. Now get her moving, you need to get behind that wall.”

He shook his head. “A patrol is coming soon. They will look in on me, and Shela, to make sure we are where we are expected to be.”

“They’re coming now,” Jada growled.

Dro’erja blinked and shook his head. “You and your companion should hide behind the wall, I will send them away. If I am missing, they will begin a search and place the entire area in a security lockdown.”

The hackles on Jada’s back rose, and she stepped across the room to grab the elf by his collar.

“Jada!” I hissed.

She turned and I saw claws glint in the low light. “He will betray us!” The huge Knowle hissed at me.

I shook my head. “He won’t.”

The huge, clawed paw loosened, and she narrowed her eyes at me. “And if he does?”

I shrugged as I reached down and grabbed the crumpled elf guard’s shirt to lift him. I felt the tickle of static as I did, his personal shield was still active.

“Then I’ll tear this place apart and kill every single living thing down here except Axle until we get him back. Even the beholder and Sleem if I need to.”

The spider cringed further into her corner, scuffling as she tried to look smaller again. A second later I heard the click of the guards boots and saw Jada’s ears twitch.

She exhaled and let go of the dark elf, before silently running to the hidden door. I hauled it back closed but refrained from turning the lock. Jada rested one hand on the slab of concrete and clutched at her mace with the other. While we waited, I quietly stripped the guard of his loose silk clothing and crammed it into my bag.

I offered the shield to Jada, who accepted it and added the device to her own belt, pushing the blue gem at the center to activate it. A thin blue light erupted from the device, and Jada’s hair stood up on end from the static.

With the door closed, we couldn’t hear what passed between the elves in the other room. It was a quiet conversation, and brief. Within a moment, Dro’erja was at the door, trying to pull it open. Jada held it tight until I nodded at her.

Dro’erja immediately raised his arms in surrender again as the door opened. I glanced out, looking around the room in a quick sweep before I nodded to him. “Take her, hide in here. If you turn the wheel on the other side of the door, it locks. We’ll be back with our friend soon. Stay here, or my hobbs will probably kill you, and Shela.”

He nodded grimly, then turned and made a swift, silent hand motion to the giant spider. She immediately scuttled over, staying on the ceiling, and crept into the hidden room as Dro’erja walked inside. Another hand motion, and she curled into a ball in the far corner of the room.

The elf whispered, “Thus falls the House of Shireen.”

I turned and stared at him as the door closed, then walked to the exit with Jada. My phone got hot in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Rayna’s grey face. I lifted it to one ear and whispered, “report.”

“We in position. Hangar, medical, and crossroads secured,” she said.

I nodded. “Hold those, kill any delves who come up from residential. I have an agent in the hidden passage behind the Sleem farm, do not harm him or his spider.”

“Got it boss. Leave coms open.” She set her phone down on something, and I could see her putting an earpiece in.

“Yep.” I left my phone on and slid it into my pocket. Her image appeared in my helmet, and I swiped it away to a corner. Our phone bill was going to kill me when it came due.

I turned to Jada. “Let’s go.”