---Pakkonaia, 1 Day ago--
The room's door shook under the heavy hammering of an armored fist. Luf and Rayki looked up in surprise. What was going on? Following the strikes that almost blew the door from its hinges was the authoritative voice, calling out loud and clear.
"Lady Luf! You and your entourage have to return immediately!" the guard torturing the door called from outside. They knew the guard. They had been their guide and watcher for the past week that they were allowed to stay at the subterranean Nightelf Compound.
However, the situation was hard to understand. The negotiations and food testing had been going well. Since the Faer that accompanied them couldn't really be harmed by poisons, they were able to test the various foods and ingredients that the elf-like demons were able to provide.
Things were going well, and they had been negotiating positively about various trade treaties. What had happened that they were suddenly trying to kick them out so rudely? There was only one way to find out. Rayki had already stood up and opened the door.
"What is going on?" the revived bard asked the eager guard, that finally stopped banging against the door. The guard hesitated for a moment before he spoke.
"We are in trouble. Our scouts warned us of a hostile force that has apparently found out about our location. The heir ordered for you and your people to be evacuated immediately. You have to return through the hell gate before they arrive," the guard didn't hide anything, saving them a lot of time asking.
The elves intended to send them back to avoid diplomatic implications. If Luf and Bodeka's faer were to be harmed during their stay here, it could lead to a misunderstanding. Although Luf knew that they were overthinking things, when it came to Minas Mar, or the possibility of them getting harmed, she understood the intention.
"Alright, we will leave immediately. I will inform our company," Luf agreed without any arguing.
"I will leave a few guards to bring you to the exit, once you are ready," the guard replied and instructed two of his men to stand behind, while he hurried on to accomplish other tasks. The guard had barely left when Luf pulled out her communication orbs and called Bodeka.
"Get ready, we are leaving immediately," she said the moment Bodeka picked up the call.
"What? Why?" came her surprised voice from the other end.
"No time to explain, just make sure everyone is ready to leave within 5 minutes," Luf didn't bother explaining any further and ended the call.
"That was a little rude," Rayki commented jokingly.
"Yeah, no time for niceties. You also get ready," she told her lover.
"Already am," the bard chuckled. As a bard, he was already used to traveling with little luggage. He had so little, he had nothing to unpack to begin with. Luf had quickly filled her inventory with her stuff and was ready to leave, too.
She looked at the room one last time with a sigh. It was a really nice room, which they had gotten as the ambassadors of Minas Mar. Compared to the modern style of Urth, she really liked this kind of luxurious and embellished style of the elves.
Luf had looked forward to staying a little longer but - Suddenly the whole structure shook. Luf clicked her tongue. Seemed like it was already too late.
"I guess their scouts were a little slow," Rayki commented, watching the dust and parts of the decorations fall from the ceiling. The two left the room quickly, meeting the guards waiting for them outside.
"Please follow us! We will bring to to a passage that directly leads to the gate," the guard exclaimed when the two charged out of the room. Despite the rooms being quite lavish, the facility itself was very spartan and sanitary.
They followed the two guards down simple corridors covered in polished white stone. As someone not living in this place, it was a little more than a hard-to-memorize maze. Despite having stayed here for two weeks, she had no idea where they were going.
At some point, she even suspected that the passages had changed. It was hard to believe that she couldn't memorize at least some of the paths... Her idle thoughts were interrupted when the whole structure rocked once again, and several stone panels detached from the walls and ceiling.
"Careful!" one of the guards called out, but Rayki had already made his move and pulverized the panel that was about to fall on Luf. Seeing she was fine, the two men guiding them increased their speed. It seemed like the attacks were growing stronger.
"It's not much further!" the one in the lead exclaimed.
"What about Bodeka and the others?" Luf asked without slowing her step. She was more concerned about the location than their lives. She doubted there was anything that could really endanger the faer in this world.
"We should meet your comrades at the passage. Another group of guards will bring them there," the guard beside her, who had also been saved by the bard's timely feat of strength, said under ragged breath. It wasn't every day that one was almost crushed by a ceiling panel, but he seemed a little too out of it.
"Is there something I should know?" she asked the guard, who kept looking back at the collapsed corridor.
"No! No, it's okay," he gave a distracted answer. Luf made a mental note but didn't ask any further. If everything went well, she wouldn't have to care about their secrets. If something went wrong, she simply had to deal with it.
"We are here! The entrance to the passage is just up ahead," the guard in the front called out, focusing her attention back to the direction they were running in. In front was a crossing that led to a slightly narrower hallway that led straight and far into the distance. Its end simply vanished in the distance.
"This leads to a staircase that will bring you to the surface close to the hell gate," the guard explained, catching his breath.
"You are not going with us?" Rayki asked suspicious.
"There are no branches on this way, it's just straight out. We have to join our men," he said, and the structure shook once again, giving weight to his claim. While the guard who led them seemed convinced of his duty, the one who was almost rushed with Luf didn't seem as steadfast in their decision to return.
"What about Bodeka and the rest of our group?" Luf asked once again. He had said they would meet here, but there were no signs of them. The guard grimaced.
"Maybe they are a little slower? Maybe they got held up a little... but I'm sure they will follow right after you. Please, just get out while you still can," the man almost begged.
"Fine, we will leave, for now," Luf ultimately agreed.
"Are you serious?" Rayki whispered to her, seemingly not in agreement with her decision.
"We can just return if they don't show up. It's not like we're in great danger," the death bride said, confident in the survivability of the faer. Even if they grew slowly and weren't the strongest, they were like cockroaches.
"Fine, let's leave for now then.."
With that, they finally parted with the two guards, although one of them did so rather hesitantly. While the guard ran back into their headquarters, Luf and Rayki ran down the long straight escape passage.
They heard several more explosions and eruptions from behind them as they ran toward the hell gate, but no signs of Bodeka and the others following them or catching up with them at any point.
"Don't look so down. Once we reach the hell gate, we will contact Minas Mar and get backup to clean up this place," Luf soothed Rayki, who was a little more conflicted about simply leaving the other faer behind.
"Alright, but couldn't we just call them from here?" the bard asked, but Luf shook her head.
"Their base is shrouded. All outgoing communications are disrupted, even in this corridor. I already tried," Luf admitted. Technically, communication with orbs was possible across the hell gates, but the nightelves were strict about outgoing signals. Despite their carefulness, it seemed that their enemy had found the base.
They ran in silence for a while. The sounds and shakes of explosions grew silent behind them.
"Look, up ahead! That has to be the staircase," Rayki exclaimed, pointing in the distance where they could see the foot of a wide spiral staircase, leading up. However, as they got closer, there was not only the staircase.
A figure was coming down the staircase as they were running toward it.