Felix killed all Wurms. First tunnel safe. Second in danger.
"Noctis' tits," Evie cursed. Vess winced inwardly at the blasphemy. "Dunno if I'm gonna get used to hearing a bird talk."
"Doesn't Zara have that familiar of hers?" Alister asked, but no one paid attention to him.
"I heard nothing," Atar said. "How come you did?"
"I'm special," Evie said, batting her eyes at the mage.
"Wurms are dead. Felix took care of them," Vess translated for the others. "First group of Henaari are safe, but the second is having problems. Danger."
"Bet that's where the Arcid is," Alister said.
"Not takin' that wager," Harn grunted. "Boy draws the strong like moths to a flame."
"Moths get burnt up that way," Atar noted.
"They do, don't they."
"I am counting down!" Number 55597 warned with a flare of heat, but the tunnel was silent. Save, perhaps, for the hitched whisper of muffled sobbing. Pathetic. "When I reach zero, I shall be burning all that you are! Fire of such incredible strength will flood your tunnel, one that I know is blocked, and that will be the end of you! If you come, now, this instant, I will be merciful. In exchange for telling me the location of your leaders, I will only kill the weakest among you."
More sobbing. Ugh. The Master had demanded the nomads' deaths, and he would deliver them. Finding them had been difficult. They were more elusive than the chimeranot that he'd seen any. Regardless, if the Henaari had wanted to survive, they wouldn't have killed his patrol and left their stinking blood behind. Hoarhounds, even the altered ones, were excellent trackers.
Still, the silence and the sobbing continued. 55597 let a rumble start in his cavernous metal chest.
"Fine!" He'd changed his mind. There would be no counting for these pathetic wretches. Fire Mana gathered in the empty chambers of the Arcid's chest, igniting its low burn with a magnificent swell of energy and power. "Choose death, then!"
He could find the Farwalker without their help.
Pyroclast!
Just as the Mana of his Master-forged Skill reached the cusp of release, a slab of thick, obdurate stone burst from the ground before the Arcid. It blocked his access to the tunnel almost completely!
"Wh-what is this!?" He whirled, his thick, powerful limbs slamming into the earth. "Who dares block one of the chosen?"
At the far end of his servants, a lone Human appeared from the accumulating woodsmoke. The Arcid was as disgusted as he was confused. A Human was a base mortal. Weak, but many. Yet this one was alone. It didn't even attempt to armor itself, paltry though such efforts would be. Instead the Human was bare of limb and wearing cloth of all things.
Two weapons glinted at its side, however. At the very least, it thought itself a threat. 55597 would have to disabuse it of that notion.
"Human. Why do"
"Arcid. You're all kinda jerks, huh?"
The Human spoke out of turn, off-hand, and it insulted him! The Arcid could not let a single one of those insults stand, and he vented his rage. Twin plumes of fire shot to either side of him, setting more brush aflame. "You wander alone into my presence, and insult me? Do you know who I am? Who I represent?!"
"Yes, no, and yes," the interloper said. "In that order. I mean, I know your number. 55597 right? Kinda bland." He spread open his disgusting, fleshy arms. "Plus, you're kinda weak, huh? 55389 was a lot tougher."
The Arcid's eyes, twin fires in their own right, narrowed. "How do you know that designation? Who are you?"
"You don't know? I figure you would. Archon must not like you," the Human said. Its voice was disgustingly smug, and it just about sneered at him. Him!
"The Master trusts me more than all others! Who else would be tasked with ridding his lands of the Henaari pests?" Number 55597 drew himself up, pushing out his burning chest. "None of the others were even considered to hunt them down!" Then his eye fires widened. "How do you know the Master's name?"
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," the Human said.
"And if you do not, I'll kill you where you stand," the Arcid threatened. No, promised!
The Human shrugged. "You can try."
Of a sudden, stone spikes shot from the earth on every side of the Arcid's force. The spikes stabbed through many of the Hoarhounds' heads, killing them instantly, and those that dodged were followed. The spikes bent and twisted. In less than a moment, all of the Hoarhounds were dead.
"Huh," the Human said. He seemed surprised. "That was easier than I thought."
"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!" The Arcid was already charging, filling its chest with a raging, infernal heat. It roared to life, a living flame that melted the rocks around him into puddles of magma. "BREAK HIM!"
Gargantuan, metallic-edged screams shook the tunnel, and a sudden, terrible heat bore down on the huddle group of Henaari. Yet, for some reason, the heat did not bloom into flame.
"What is happening?"
"Has the monster fled? Captain Eskr?"
"II don't know," the captain said. His nerves were as shot as all the rest, though he tried to hold onto the dignity of his people. "Perhaps we should"
There was an abrupt slamming to the side of the gathered Henaari, and without warning an entire portion of the tunnel collapsed again. Except, instead of cutting them off as the Wurms had done previously, there was a rush of cool, musky air as a new shaft appeared beside them. From the darkness of its mouth, a welcome figure appeared.
"Come with me if you want to live," A'zek said.
Though ferocious-looking, the entire group brightened immediately. Cries of "Farwalker" and "Companion" lilted through the passage, and the harnoq had to encourage speed and silence multiple times.
"Move. Faster. The death you avoided still survives. Run!" A'zek hissed the last, striking at the floor with his barbed tail in emphasis. The Henaari took the words seriously and began to hustle, until they were loping down the curiously smooth tunnel he'd traversed.
"You made a tunnel for us?" Captain Eskr was confounded. He never knew the chimera had such a Skill. "Raven preserve us. How much Mana did this take?"
A'zek regarded the Captain of the Dawnguard with a single, earth-toned eye. "I did not make this. It is the plan of another, one which I do not approve."
"Another...?"
The harnoq sped down the tunnel, forcing the captain to keep up. Yet even as they ran, he did not miss that the opening to their tunnel had somehow, seamlessly sealed itself closed.
"Then how?"
"Questions are for the living. Run. One day, you may hear the answer," A'zek said, before blurring forward too quickly for the captain's Perception to follow.