Lamps made of large white Elvine crystals shone brightly throughout the stone-lined corridor, floor and walls alike, illuminating with ease the underground passageway that several people were walking back and forth through.
Smells of burnt things, but also of plants and animals wafted through the air from several rooms located at regular intervals, while incessant footsteps echoed off the walls. A dozen men were carrying heavy crates toward one end of the long gallery, armed with swords and sticks hanging from their belts. In the opposite direction, those with empty arms and hands were turning back; surely to fetch more goods to take to the great hall, where the seats were beginning to fill up as more people arrived.
Most of the people who had seated themselves in the large auction room wore masks to hide their faces. Some had chosen rather simple masks, others elaborate ones, but all had made sure to hide most of their physical features; whether it was by adding capes, pieces of armor, or hats that altered both the build and the voices of those who wore them. It became impossible to distinguish who was a woman or a man, who was a human or a humanoid, or even who was richer or more socially prominent than another.
However, it was possible to tell who was an ally, just by the similarities in appearance and accessories, or the verbal exchanges that took place with proximity for some. It also seemed that some people had come with an escort, as armed groups were standing not too far away from some customers.
Among this assembly, Ewan and Finn had blended in the mass, dressed also in clothes which they were not used to, as well as strange masks.
If the young hunter was dressed like a nobleman from the countryside, he wore a grey and blue wolf mask with large pointed ears that were both pierced by a ring to which long ribbons of similar colors were attached.
Finn, meanwhile, played the role of his fake escort, and wore a light, charcoal-tinted armor over a long black tunic with purple trim. His mask resembled a dragon with a hooked beak and large horns waving forward, and was surrounded by the thick black fur that hemmed the hood pulled up over his head.
The military man being taller than Ewan, the latter had had to resolve to wear shoes with thick soles to appear at least as an adult, rather than as a teenager who would not belong in this place.
Since their arrival, the two men had taken seats on the left side of the room, and had carefully observed everything that was going on around them: the clients who were arriving, the armed men who were bringing on the stage several of the future lots - alive or dead - but also the layout of the room itself, with its possible exits. It was important to quickly draw up a mental map of the place to prevent the targets from escaping when the time would come.
However, even with the information Carciem had provided, it was difficult to know who might be part of the cult, let alone who was high up in the organization. The Circle members had probably blended in with the crowd that had filled the rows of seats surrounding the black wooden stage.
"Did you spot any of them, Finn?" Ewan whispered to the man with him.
The dragon mask's muzzle wagged horizontally.
The military man was having trouble guessing who might be a mage in this whole gathering, and he was probably dying of overheating with the outfit he was wearing, which was not only thick, but went so far as to cover his hands with leather gloves. Even being dressed warmly barely concealed the overly calculated gait he had acquired during his training, so Ewan had done everything he could to force the man to relax his muscles into a more casual step.
Finn had not stopped shrugging his shoulders, for lack of being able to growl of disapproval. Besides, he was being far too rude in his words to pass for a devoted bodyguard. That, Ewan had known to accommodate it. Finn didn't really like him, and he himself wouldn't make the effort to find out more about the military man, even though the latter had almost thrown him in jail after the incident with Carciem.
What concerned Ewan much more, was whether Pavas was being held near here, in the rest of the subterranean.
He knew full well that without Carciem's armed troops, he wouldn't be able to get very far into the galleries, nor would he have time to rescue the little girl before harm came to her.
Feeling the stress and agitation rise in him, he rose from his seat, the black dragon mask following his every move.
"I'm going to take a walk by the stage, and I'll be right back," he informed Finn.
Quickly, Ewan joined the other patrons who were watching the lots in advance, figuring out which ones were the most interesting, and which ones they would decide to pay the most for. Everything there was already tagged with a starting price. Everything from living beings to soulless stones.
At the thought alone, Ewan winced behind his mask.
Everything had a price, everything was categorized.
From monster eggs to starving humanoids who had long since lost the strength to cry or fight back, to human slaves and mana-laden stones.
There were even a few children, but the girl he was looking for was not among them.
If she had been there, in front of his eyes, he would surely not have been able to restrain himself from acting immediately. However, that didn't mean that he didn't feel sorry for all the people and creatures that were being auctioned off tonight.
It made him uncomfortable.
So uncomfortable that he left the stage in a hurry, walking down the few steps with a clear and sure step.
He was thinking about how he could perhaps slip away from Finn before the start of the auction, or even during it, to go and search the adjacent galleries, when, in his haste, he bumped into a person taller than him.
Confused for a moment by the collision with someone he hadn't even seen coming towards him, he took a step back and looked up to see who had had the misfortune to get in his way.
An opaque black mask with oval contours, shiny and completely smooth, without even openings for the eyes, stared back at him, taking advantage of the difference in height between the two individuals.
Ewan could not tell if it was a man or a woman. The person was wrapped in a cloak of the same color, and did not speak a word. However, the young man was sure, even if he didn't see the eyes of this stranger directly, that he was being stared at. Intensely.
He panicked for a very brief moment, but refrained from making any gesture that might have betrayed him.
Should he apologize? Or keep silent?
Did he even have the right to speak to another person in this place?
He must have hesitated a little too long, because the individual - who must have been even taller than Finn or Carciem - placed a gloved hand, covered with pieces of armor that reminded him of reptile scales, on his shoulder.
Ewan froze, his gaze focused on the hand that had made contact with his body. Had he aroused suspicion in any way?
However, the hand simply pushed him aside in silence, before letting go of his shoulder. Then, the individual with the smooth mask continued his way as if nothing had happened, followed closely by several people with similar outfits but whose masks were much more elaborate.
Ewan joined his place beside Finn, not without throwing a last glance behind him.
The person he had bumped into and his group were no longer in his field of vision. They had left the room, which made the young hunter uneasy.
It seemed that people were allowed to come and go as they pleased in these parts.
He felt a light tap on his shoulder, and turning to Finn, frowned.
The military man was glaring at him through his mask, his two green eyes even more visible through the openings made for seeing.
"What did you say to that guy?" Finn asked in a low voice, which surprised Ewan even more than the question itself.
This man had not spoken all evening, remaining always silent although the young hunter could feel hostility coming from him. However, the military man had taken the trouble to speak - although he was abrupt in his words - to know what had just happened.
"The guy I bumped into just now?" Asked in a whisper the young hunter.
He saw Finn's gaze harden, with severity or perhaps fear?
"He said nothing and I didn't speak, why?" Answered Ewan, a little unsettled by the attitude of the military.
Finn then bent down towards him, and in an even more discreet and hurried voice - that even Ewan had trouble hearing - he said:
"This guy is one of our targets! And not an ordinary one!"
One of their targets? This guy was part of the Circle?! And Finn had managed to identify him despite the distance?
And what did he mean by 'not an ordinary one'?
The presence of this person had agitated the military man, as if something unexpected had happened at the wrong time. On his guard, Ewan looked again for the stranger, but didn't find him.
The doors of the room were beginning to be locked, a sign that the auction would begin in less than five minutes.