Chapter 48: Sanctuary

As Tormund followed behind Naomi with Soto trailing him he strained his eyes to get them more accustomed to the dark. The tunnel they were going down only had torches every couple hundred feet. As they moved through the tunnels Tormund saw that there were multiple other paths that they could have taken like they were walking through a maze.

Voicing his question Tormund asked Naomi about it.

"Do these other tunnels lead to your main base? How do you not get lost?"

As he said this Tormund was staring down at the ground seeing if maybe the ground was worn where they had walked more.

"There is only one path that reaches the sanctuary, the best you will find in the other tunnels is a dead end. Some of them end with traps, some underground pools of water, with some questionable creatures inside, some end at subterranean canyons, and there is even one that ends in a mutated spider's nest. That one is my favorite."

The last sentence she said with a huge grin on her face while glancing back at Tormund. Being an Evo 1 being around mostly Evo 0 beings Tormund had normal felt like the predator, but right now with that smile the woman in front of him reminded him too much of his Lord. 

After another fifteen minutes of wandering around the tunnels Tormund began hearing a far-off thundering sound. As they weaved their way forward the noise grew louder and louder until it was a constant roaring. Living next to the waterfall by the plateau Tormund was easily able to identify that what they were approaching was an underground waterfall.

Another few minutes they finally walked out of the tunnels out onto a cliff, next to the three of them on their right only about ten feet over a railing made of stone. To their left were a set of stairs leading down into the giant underground cavern they had walked into. Hanging all over the ceiling was glowing moss that helped to cast enough light onto the bustling village below it. The lighting was comparable to that of dawn's first light or the last light of the day at dusk. The village covered around ten thousand square meters and had small homes scattered about, small roads snaked around the village allowing people to move about to their destinations.

The houses were all built with clay and scattered throughout the bustling village were planters with the glowing moss growing in them, providing light for the residents. Tormund stood next to the roaring waterfall taking in the site of the village, the small settlement didn't even take up a tenth of the massive cavern. It was one of the most gorgeous sites he had seen.

Finally breaking from his appreciation of the village's beauty he bounded down the carved stairs to the cave floor below catching up to both Naomi and Soto as they reached the bottom of the stairs. As they began walking into the village and Tormund now got a closer look he could see that each building, like he had already seen, was made of clay, however crawling up and around each building was a soft carpet of moss. The doors were made of wood hand carved to fit each specific dimensions as the doors varied from oval, to circular, to rectangles. Not one door mirrored another.

The winding pathways were made from clay bricks with the soft moss acting as a type of grout. Lining the sides of all the paths the moss grew across the ground giving the village a look as if it sat upon grass and not on solid rock.

There were no children in the village, but Tormund estimated there had to be at least two hundred villagers here. They all moved about with smiles on their faces seeming to enjoy life. He did note how pale most of them were, but other than the lack of getting some sun they all seemed hale and healthy.

Naomi did not speak as they made their way through the village streets, instead she allowed Tormund to soak everything in as he looked around with curiosity. Some of the residents stared back at him as they were not used to outsiders except for when Soto had brought groups back with him after smuggling them from Cooper.

Seeing there was only one person brought by Soto this time the people couldn't help but be curious. It took them just a few minutes, but they eventually reached a house twice the size of the ones around it. Naomi entered the residence signaling for Soto and Tormund to follow her in. Having the two of them sit at a nicely carved wood table Naomi grabbed some refreshments like water and snacks. Offering them to her guests she joined them at the table where they began discussions.

"So is it true, have you really cleared the goblins from that village."

"We eradicated the majority of them before I had left, I would assume by now my Lord would have finished the job."

"And what does he plan on doing with Cooper?"

"I am uncomfortable saying what will be done to the man if the crimes levied against him are true. My Lord is a very understanding person, but if he is able to confirm the stories I am afraid dying will be the least of Cooper's worries."

"And if there is no proof of his wrongdoings?"

Tormund stared into the woman's eyes. "He will still kill him, there are too many coincidences and circumstantial evidence to show that no matter what he WAS up to something he shouldn't have been doing. 

"Your Lord sounds like a ruthless man."

"I would not disagree with you on that, my Lord can be very giving to those he considered his own and his allies, however anyone he sees as an enemy he will not show any mercy. He told me about a saying from his planet, it went something like: To be kind to others is to be cruel to oneself. He told me it was a little out of context, but the just of it was that was why he would never show an enemy mercy, he says it will just come bite him in the ass."

"And do you know what he thinks of us."

"I do not, currently he does not know you exist. He sent me with Soto to find you all if you existed. My mission is to gather information and confirm Soto's story he told us is true. To be honest I don't need to see anything else, what I have already seen is enough to allow Soto to walk free."

"Would your Lord be interested in making a deal with me then?"

Intrigued Tormund asked.

"What would this deal entail?"

"I too am a Noble, unfortunately my first summon died while protecting me from an attack by Cooper, I was lucky that I had found this underground cavern system and was able to place my summoning gate here. Unfortunately, the only people we have joining us are the escapees of Coopers village, I have not been able to summon any more citizens."

With a furrowed brow Tormund bluntly asked.

"Why are you unable to summon anyone? Is your Summoning Gate broken or something?"

"No, it's nothing like that, it's just we haven't gotten any more summoning scrolls."

Putting his hand up to get her to stop talking Tormund quizzically asked.

"How are you already an Evo 1 being, but you don't have any summoning vellums. That's literally impossible unless you didn't actually hunt for the essence crystals, and you received them from somewhere else."

"I have hunted and obtained all the essence crystals, I have consumed, by myself if that's what you're asking."

"That is. How could you have killed so many, but you didn't get a summoning vellum when you looted the kills."

"Looted the kills, what is that?!"