Benjamin led the visiting officials through the halls of the fortress toward the accommodation section. Khalil Fortress was vast, its corridors finished in smooth, rock-hewn facades lined overhead with bright strips of white LED. One of Leonora's officers, taking in the strange brightness of the place, murmured to the comrade beside him, "Why is this place so lit up? I always pictured a fortress like this being darker."
Benjamin caught the comment. He cleared his throat and turned toward the officer with a cold, level stare. "Have you ever heard of a Necro Wolf, young man?"
The officer blinked, caught off guard by the question, and offered only a confused frown in response. Benjamin faced forward again as he began to explain. "A Necro Wolf is a creature native to Khalil itself — a nonphysical being that resembles a wolf in shape, though in truth it's closer to a living gas. To this day, we still don't fully understand what they actually are. But over the years, we've come to understand two things about them for certain. The first is that no matter how small the opening, they can pass through it, so long as there's a way in at all." He paused there just long enough for the officer to ask, unable to help himself, "And the second thing?"
Benjamin's tone shifted, dropping into something darker. "The second is simple. If you ever find yourself standing in an unlit section of this fortress" — he paused again, turning to fix the officer with a level look — "that's when you disappear."
A visible chill ran through the officer at that. Benjamin walked on, offering something like reassurance over his shoulder. "Light is their one weakness. As long as you stay in it, you're safe."
The walk to the accommodation section was short, and they arrived without further incident. Stepping inside, the visiting officers found themselves genuinely stunned by the sudden luxury of it — nothing about the room resembled anything they'd encountered elsewhere in the fortress. Holographic screens lined the walls, cycling through media imported fresh from the capital on a monthly rotation. A long, U-shaped sofa ran along the far end of the room, fronted by three tables laid out with food and drink in generous excess. Despite the fortress having no windows to speak of, artificial projections along the walls offered sweeping, shifting views from across the empire, leaving the visiting officers momentarily speechless.
Benjamin gestured toward the tables. "Please, enjoy our welcome. In the meantime, we'll have the Duke escorted to the ship, as you requested."
Leonora stepped forward before he could say more, her expression sharpening. "I'll escort the Duke myself. There's no need for your guards — I'll be taking my own soldiers."
Benjamin cleared his throat. "Very well, General. Even so, I'll assign one of my guards to accompany you regardless — the fortress is large, and he can guide you to the Pit section directly."
Alan rose from the sofa he'd claimed, addressing Leonora. "General, once you've brought the Duke up, I'd like a word with him myself." He turned to Benjamin. "Your office should serve well enough for that."
Benjamin bowed slightly. "Of course."
The guard led the way, with Leonora and her men following close behind through the cold, artificial corridors of Khalil Fortress. Her thoughts wandered freely as they walked. It had been more than seven years since she had last stood face to face with him, and the thought of finally doing so again left her unsettled in a way she wasn't used to feeling. Two years ago she had held his half-dead body in her own arms, certain she could still find some way to save him from what was coming. She had done everything in her power to keep him from execution — going as far as personally convincing the emperor to place him under mind crawl instead, buying herself, and him, whatever time that arrangement could provide while she searched for something better. She had played her role carefully in front of Alan throughout all of it, though she suspected, deep down, that a man as calculating as Alan had seen straight through the performance regardless. She was nearly out of options now, and the fact that Youri had woken from the coma entirely on his own had unraveled the last of her plan — the quiet scheme to eventually smuggle him out while letting the empire believe him dead.
She ground her teeth, though the anger simmering in her had nothing to do with Youri at all. It belonged entirely to Oscar. In her mind, Oscar was the reason everything had unraveled in the first place — the reason Youri had left, the reason he'd ended up serving someone who had turned him against the empire in the end. She was certain Oscar had something on him, some leverage that had bound Youri to his side even after he'd finally managed to stabilize the rest of his life.
The walk was long, but they arrived eventually at the platform leading down to the Pit. The guard stepped ahead to enter the coordinates for Youri's level, but before he could finish, Leonora stopped him.
"I'll make the rest of the way down myself."
The guard hesitated. "But the Director's orders were for me to remain vigilant with this prisoner at all times."
Something in Leonora snapped. She crossed the distance between them in a single stride, seized him by the collar, and yanked him close enough that he could see nothing but her eyes. "Who, exactly, are you calling a prisoner, you imbecile?"
The guard froze, stunned into silence, as she continued, her voice low and dangerously even. "I said I'll be going down there myself. For your own sake, I'd suggest you step off this platform right now — because more than anything else at this moment, I would very much like an excuse to blow off some steam."
She released him, and he didn't wait to be told twice — he was gone before she'd even finished lowering her hand. Leonora pressed the control screen, and the platform began its descent, her expression growing darker with every level that passed.