- THE SEA DRAGON'S NESTLE HQ BASEMENT -
Hielgan was reluctant to follow the stairs further, it was odd that this part of the guild was not being guarded by anyone. However, with everything that was going on inside Hielgan assumed most of the guards were watching the merchants in case some decided to cause trouble.
'I can't back down now.'
Hielgan exhaled and followed the flight of stairs that led all the way to the basement of the headquarters, when he reached the bottom of the stairs Hielgan felt a subtle heat in his hand, and when he looked to check what was causing it.
'The amulet, it's glowing.'
The amulet that Sir Garlial had given him had clairvoyant traits, by imbuing the amulet with one of the half-mortal children's aura signatures, the amulet would glow in if placed in the vicinity of a similar aura.
"Seems I was right to come down here." Hielgan whispered.
The basement was filled with rows of boxes that had been stacked to the ceiling, Hielgan wondered what the boxes contained as he walked through one of the rows, but due to the nature of his presence in the basement, there was no time for him to look into it.
'I can't afford to be distracted, this amulet is the key.'
As he proceeded to the back of the rows, the amulet glowed brighter in his palm until he came across another door.
This door seemed to lead to another room in the basement, Hielgan could only imagine what was hidden behind as he pushed the door open. The moment he opened that door, he felt a profuse wave of auras that abashed his senses like a gust of wind.
"Someone- No there should be more." Hielgan mumbled as he quickly glued himself to one of the walls.
Hielgan moved like a ghost, silent and invisible as he made his way through the corridor, at the far end was another steel door and this one was as large as the corridor. Hielgan stuck to the shadows as he took a peek through one of the openings on the steel door.
Taken aback by what he had witnessed, Hielgan accidentally stumbled and fell to the floor.
"What was that?" A voice suddenly whispered as the shuffling of boots filled the air.
"It sounded like it came from outside." Another individual uttered.
"Is our shift over already?"
The individuals pulled the large steel door apart as they went out to examine what had caused the brief disturbance. Hielgan had not been able to move from his fallen position, but he made sure to lie face down to keep his identity hidden.
"Is that Gabel?" The individual queried the other.
"He could be drunk again."
"Hey, Gabel! Wake-" One of the mortals came up to Hielgan and proceeded to roll him over, but to his dismay, he did not see the face he had presumed. "You are not Gabel-"
With a rough stomp to the individual's gut, Hielgan knocked out the mortal who fell face down right next to him. Seeing what had occurred to his colleague the other individual ran back inside the room, but Hielgan immediately got to his feet and chased after him.
The individual jumped over boxes and pushed chairs in front of Hielgan to slow down his pursuit, however, Hielgan easily evaded the chairs and lept over the boxes to catch up to the mortal and tackle him to the ground.
"Get off of me!" The individual easily pushed Hielgan aside and proceeded to slam his hand on one of the levers on the wall. "Ha! How do you like that, now this place will be flooded with guards in minutes."
Realizing what the mortal had been aiming for when he had fled from him, Hielgan seemed annoyed at being fooled.
"It won't take long to get what I need from you." Hielgan threatened.
"Fool! Do you even know what this place is? No one will know you were ever here boy!"
Unfazed by Hielgan's threats, the individual resounded his own, and Hielgan felt slightly intimidated, after all, his first glance of this room had shaken him with fear, the cages that were stacked upon one another with weakened half-mortals inside.
"You are wrong!"
With a quick lunge, Hielgan jumped over to where the mortal was standing and proceeded to deliver two thunderous punches to the individual's face and stomach.
"I already got what I needed." Hielgan stated as the mortal collapsed to the floor. "A few of these scrolls will do as evidence since I wasted a lot of time already."
The room was arrayed with cages, several half-mortals had been smuggled into Rasoc and locked up and subjected to terrible conditions. A putrid stench filled the air as many of them littered on themselves, while others had fallen ill and died.
While standing alone in the room, Hielgan could feel the gazes of some of the half-mortals upon him, mixed emotions seemed to radiate from the aura around him and he found himself being seen as the villain and the hero at the same time.
'There is nothing more I can do here, I have to go...'
Hielgan forced his legs to move, he could linger down there any longer lest he was cornered by people much stronger than him.
When Hielgan made his first step, a hand suddenly reached out from one of the cages and grabbed his leg.
It was a half-mortal from one of the nearby cages, the hand was thin and scaly, Hielgan felt no aura from this individual it was a miracle that they could still move.
"Help... help me."
The plea for help was nearly inaudible, but Hielgan heard it with his keen hearing, and for a moment he wasted more time trying to consider his next action. If he were to help this half-mortal, the others would surely ask for help too, however, considering how frail this half-mortal appeared, he would risk having it die as he went and reported his findings.
"You dumb dragon..." Hielgan muttered to himself. "How dare you even analyze a plea for help?"
Hielgan quickly clutched the lock to the half-mortal's cage and with a mighty jerk pulled the lock apart, he then stripped off his cloak and used it to cover up the half-mortal's frail body.
"Hold on, I will save you!"