"We got a survivor," Tai said.
"By the look of his clothes, he must be one of the servants," the captain replied, and tapped the Terran's shoulder to get his attention. "Did you see what happened?"
"I only saw them coming up from underneath the cellar," the man stammered, his face stained with spattered blood. "I knew they would come for them. It was a bad omen from the start..."
"Start? Explain..."
"I can't! My master swore death if I told!"
"I don't think he'll be able to do that now pal," Tai replied.
"So talk..." the captain added.
The servant gulped before he began. "The master came into possession of two gems by a chance run-in on his annual commute through the desert. He didn't think of them as valuable until after he came across a Summoner he thought was an assassin. My master had him killed and discovered the gems on the dead warrior, and then his obsession started into a dangerous goal. Last year, another Summoner came to attend a festival, and he had her killed too for her gems. There were warnings of such a collection luring monsters and vengful Summoners here. But he would not listen. He threw this very fair to lure more Summoners..."
"I knew I never liked the guy," the captain said, "but I'd never expect him to go this far..."
----------
While the room was lit, Kenshi reached the bottom of the stairs to allow Willow through. What he found almost immediately was a grate in the floor to the sewer, ripped open from underneath. He reloaded with another flare and fired into the aqueduct, to see a momentary glimpse of a grotesque monstrous face before a giant hand with blade-like claws reached out through the hole at him. He fell back, missing the blades by inches, and rolled away before the hand came down on where he once stood...
