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“Where are you going?” Justitia asked as she followed Palan down a passageway. It was dimly lit, the walls and floor rough with stalactites hanging from the ceiling, pointing at their heads. A few harpies were conversing amongst themselves in fierce whispers as they followed behind the duo.
“Do we kidnap them?” one of the harpies asked.
“Do you think they can read?”
“The angel can definitely read!” the first harpy said.
“Wah, but that demon looks really scary,” a third harpy said as her feathers ruffled. “We shouldn’t do this.”
“It’s just one demon. I’m going to—“
Palan turned around and glared at the flock. He asked with his arms folded across his chest, “Do you want to be roasted or barbequed?”
“Ah! He heard us. Why are you so loud!?”
The harpies scattered and half-hopped, half-flew out of the passage. Palan snorted as they disappeared from sight. Justitia’s brow furrowed. “What were they saying?” she asked as Palan continued going the same way as before.
“Something about kidnapping,” Palan said and rolled his eyes. He stopped walking, halting in front of a forked pathway. He tilted his head and inhaled through his nose. Justitia watched as he stood unmoving. She knew what it meant when a harpy wanted to kidnap a male. A thought flashed through her head, but she quickly dismissed it. She remembered her parents telling her to get married and look for a nice job, but she had run off and joined the army instead. How were her parents doing anyway? Did the war affect their lives?
“This way,” Palan said, entering the passage on the left. As the duo walked, harpies continued to fly past them, carrying some dwarves and goblins. Justitia furrowed her brow as a cursing female lizardman was dragged past them. Were there not enough males for the harpies…?
“This place is very interesting,” Justitia said as the female lizardman was dragged around a corner. She unconsciously stepped closer to Palan. What if she was going to be kidnapped next? “Do you think it’s the harpies’ mating season?”
Palan shrugged. At the end of the passage, there was a relatively bright light. Palan’s eyes narrowed as he stepped out of the passage, entering the cafeteria. He stood in front of the tunnel entrance and sniffed the air. A centaur stared at him, waiting to enter the passageway. “Who are you?” the centaur asked and furrowed his brow. Unlike Mathias, this centaur only had two arms, but his body was completely red. “I would’ve remembered someone with your appearance.”
Palan continued to smell the air, ignoring the centaur by his side. When he finished, he brushed past the centaur as if the halfling didn’t exist. Justitia scratched her head and walked around the stamping hooves, keeping pace with Palan. After traversing from one side of the cafeteria to the other, the duo stopped in front of a wall. There was a troll embedded inside of it, its mouth letting out occasional groans. Palan’s brow furrowed as he stepped forward and sniffed the troll. Palan growled. “Dammit, Pyre.”
“What’s wrong?” Justitia asked. She bit her lower lip, staring at the imprint left in the wall. What creature had enough strength to launch a troll into a wall so hard that it became stuck? Her eyes wandered over the creature with the pig-like head and elephant-like ears. It was her first time seeing a troll.
“That stupid badge smells like this thing,” Palan said and pointed at the troll. His purple tail rose into the air and slapped the troll’s face, causing it to shudder and shout. Its eyes fluttered open.
“Ah?” The troll tried to move, but the only thing that happened was a few pebbles fell from the wall. A sigh escaped from the troll’s mouth. It blinked a few times before its bulging muscles slackened. “I appear to be stuck.” A trickle of blood started leaking out of its nose where Palan’s tail had made contact.
Palan’s expression darkened further. The troll blood smelled exactly like the badge Pyre had given Raea. Just when Palan was thinking about going back to the prison and venting his frustration on Pyre, a harpy flew past, holding onto a struggling centaur whose haunches where being dragged along the ground.
“Release me, foul bird!” the centaur shouted as its legs scrambled for purchase. “You’re going to go to hell for this! I am a messenger of—“
“For the harbinger!” the harpy shrieked, cutting off the centaur’s spiel.
Palan’s expression turned blank. “We’re going that way,” he said and pointed at the tunnel the harpy flew down. Justitia’s face paled. Wasn’t that where all the harpies had been going? Was Palan interested in…? Forget it, it wasn’t her place to judge him.
“H-help?” the troll asked as it stared at Palan’s and Justitia’s backs.
“Do you mind if I ask why we’re going this way?” Justitia asked Palan, making sure she could touch one of his tails if she reached out with her hand. She didn’t feel safe—who would if they were in her position? “Weren’t you going to find Solra to negotiate?”
“Negotiate?” Palan asked and raised an eyebrow. Harpies continued to fly to and from the tunnel they were in, the majority of them carrying dwarves. “If Raea was with me, would I even have to negotiate? I’ll just kill him if he refuses. I don’t believe Pyre would do a worse job as a leader.”
Justitia’s face paled as a few harpies turned to stare at them when they heard Palan talking about killing Solra. “S-should you be saying things like that?” she asked and held onto his tail.
Palan snorted. “So what if someone hears?” he asked. “That’s all they can do.” He smiled at a red goblin who was hanging upside-down with a harpy holding onto its ankle. “Isn’t that right?” Palan asked and laughed as he continued down the tunnel. Eventually, they ended up in front of a massive pit leading into the earth with hundreds of harpies flying in it.
“Raea’s here?” Justitia asked as she peered over the edge. She swallowed as her knees trembled. The pit of her stomach dropped as her hands began to sweat. “That’s a long way down….”
Palan wrapped his arm around Justitia’s waist. Her body stiffened as her head snapped towards Palan’s face. “What are you…?”
Justitia’s question turned into a scream as Palan jumped off the edge.