The group gathered at the bottom of the cold stone steps which ended under the ledge that was now far above them. Axus and Strom stood before the group and assessed their best course of action for their expedition into the subterranean kingdom.
So far, they had not run into the Descendant Order while on their way down, but that didn't mean their group was any faster. For all they knew, the Order could already be down here. They could be hiding in the darkness and crumbling stone buildings they could barely make out a few paces ahead of them.
Keeping this in mind, they decided to split their people into two groups. That way, if one of the groups was ambushed, the other could come rushing in to provide support. The group rushing in would be able to act with the one that was being ambushed, and perform a pincer move that would choke out their enemy's formation.
Since they had a decent amount of men that roughly numbered forty in headcount, they decided to split the group into two groups of twenty each. Axus would lead the one group with Kellen providing them navigation guidance. The other group would be led by Strom with Tommy acting as their guide.
Kellen felt somewhat uneasy since he and his friend would be split up, especially after their small falling out. Not only that, the reaction to the petrified kingdom would not be as funny from Axus as it would be from Strom.
But he couldn't be worrying about such things in this circumstance. Before the groups split up, Axus had Kellen light a few torches for each group with a flicker from his flames. Kellen protested at first, since the larger quantity of light would give away their positions, but Axus disagreed.
"Don't worry, now that we are two groups, the other can provide assistance if necessary. Plus, the space down here is much wider than in those cramped tunnels. We will have room to move around and avoid mass attacks by taking shelter in the debris around here." Explained the legionnaire.
Kellen decided to agree with the assessment and lit the torches. Now that they were prepared, the two groups wished each other good luck before departing to opposite ends of the kingdom. The void gate was located inside the old hold of the kingdom which resided in the center of the crumbling city. Therefore, the groups would travel through the opposite sides of the city and meet together at the hold.
If either group ran into trouble, each of their respective leaders would release their energy above the group to signal the encounter. Thus, the other would be able to know their comrades' situation immediately.
Kellen stole one last glance towards Tommy before the trailing torches faded off into the distance of the other end of the underground city.
He turned his head away from his friend's group and led Axus's into their end. The old buildings, or what remained of them on the periphery of the kingdom, were in far worse of a condition then the ones at the center. When Kellen had come down here with Tommy before he had not paid much heed to this section. However, as the dancing lights produced by the few torches in their group illuminated their surroundings, Kellen was able to study them more closely.
The architecture of the buildings still held its medieval tones even though they were on the verge of absolute ruin. As they passed by the stone buildings, the group carefully inspected them for any traces of the Descendant Order. So far, they had not seen any signs of their arrival nor movements. But, Kellen still prepared himself for any sudden emergence after being unable to shake off a sinking feeling residing in the pit of his stomach.
Unsurprisingly, Axus's reaction to seeing the petrified people dotting the dusty streets was nowhere to be seen on his emotionless face. Kellen remembered that the legionnaire had mentioned being the one to first stumble across the place with Tommy many years ago, but the creepy stone people still should've aroused some type of reaction. He looked around at the faces of the legionnaire's thunderbird squad and was satisfied upon seeing a more entertaining reaction in comparison.
Their group continued on through the petrified kingdom until they were only a block or two away from the kingdom's hold. But the group halted after a man from the rear brought up a disturbance he had noticed.
"Sir! The other group's signal!" Shouted the soldier.
The rest of their group with Kellen turned their attention to the other side of the old city. A blue arching tendril of electricity danced above the buildings on the other side. Kellen estimated that the distance between their groups was a couple blocks, roughly the same amount of distance remaining from their meeting point.
Axus looked back towards the hold that could now be barely seen outcropping the tops of the remaining buildings around them. They were very close to their objective.
"The other group must have had a run in with the bastards from the Order…" He said as he collected his thoughts.
"We're already pretty close to the center of the city though…" Said one of the soldiers in their group.
Kellen frowned after hearing the soldier. True, they were near their objective but Tommy's group could be in danger. That and they were looking for the stragglers from the Order anyways.
He looked over to Axus expectantly and stressed, "Even so, we should head over like we all agreed."
The legionnaire nodded his small head.
"He's right. Come on, we'll go over and see what kind of trouble they've discovered."
They extinguished a few of their torches, keeping only two to provide them with the minimum amount of light necessary as they dashed through the ancient buildings towards the other group.
"Once we get nearer, we will put out the remaining torches so that we can secretly study the situation and then join in." Ordered Axus.
It did not take very long before they found the other group. In a small plaza-like area metal clashed against metal. Their collisions produced sparks that illuminated the pairs of combatants and their struggles.
The torches were thrown on the ground in a random fashion to help provide them with more light to distinguish friend from foe. However, with only the few torches strewn about on the ground, it was difficult to make out how many the enemy numbered.
The members from the order still wore their dark robes that made it even more difficult to find them in the dim surroundings. From the top of a few buildings nearby, Kellen and his group could only make out about eight or ten enemies in the skirmish.
It was easy to find Strom, since his blue glowing electricity characterized him apart from the others. Kellen searched through the small mob to locate Tommy, but he was unable to find his whereabouts.
"Alright, looks like the enemy is mostly grouped closer to the center of the city. Follow me and we'll swing around to attack them from behind." Ordered Axus in a low voice.
"What if there's more in the back?" Asked Kellen.
"Not a problem. Slaughter everyone of those bastards if more of them pop out on the way."
The hidden group quietly unsheathed their weapons and readied their spears while nimbly scaling the buildings through the darkness. Those who wore shinier equipment were careful to avoid any light shining from the torches in the plaza that could give away their movements.
Looping back around behind the skirmish, they descended from the tops of the buildings and carefully crept behind the line of their enemies.
Axus grabbed Kellen's shoulder before they rushed in and said, "Don't summon your aura until we give those assholes the surprise."
Kellen nodded his head without removing his gaze from their targets. Along with Axus and the group, he quietly approached the skirmishing members from the Order. On cue with a few others, he slashed his sword against the back of his opponent that was preoccupied by one of Strom's men.
Shrieks from the members of the Order rang out in the dim plaza as they were caught between the two forces of Axus and Strom. In a matter of moments their resistance was quickly snuffed out.
"Thanks guys." Said Strom while running over to greet the other group.
Kellen smiled and accepted his friend's hand saying, "Don't mention it."
Kellen turned his gaze to their fallen opponents. The few members of the Order that laid slain on the old dusty streets of the Myria Kingdom numbered no more than six. In the darkness and confusion it had felt like there were at least double that amount.
"You guys are the lucky ones. We didn't run into any of these bastards at all." Complained Axus.
"Yeah, well it wasn't much of a fight once you guys joined in." Joked Marcus, who came over to the small group as well.
"That being said… The head of those bastards' little operation is still missing." Added Axus as he looked around at their slain opponents and noted the absent leader.
"That snake from before?" Asked Strom while reminiscing his past in the Zephyr Kingdom.
"Yeah, the shadow from back then has apparently returned. Not for long though, I already gave him a pretty hefty souvenir." Replied Axus as he tapped his right shoulder.
Strom laughed while cleaning the bloodied blade of his sword.
"I guess the rest are in the hold already." Said a young voice from the back of the huddled group.
Marcus pulled the light blue haired kid into the center of the group and ruffled his hair.
"Hey! Not bad for a rookie! I almost shit myself when that first guy jumped on you out of nowhere!" Heartily praised and recounted the dark skinned warrior.
Kellen looked at his blushing friend in surprise.
"I guess the training is paying off then." Said Axus from beside Kellen, who nodded his head towards his son.
Tommy's mood lowered as he shrugged and backed away from the group at his father's unfamiliar encouraging words.
"Anyways, he's most likely correct about that. Those rats are probably holed up in the hold looking for the gate as we speak." Continued Axus.
The rest of the group nodded their heads and gritted their teeth. They didn't know how much time they had left before the Order could slip away. They needed to pick up their pace.
But now that both groups were reunited and close to the hold, it wouldn't be much longer.
"Let's get the rest of them." Said Kellen while hoisting his sword into the air.
The rest of the group followed his action in unison before setting out once again into the darkness.