Ren immediately raised a hand.
They turned a corner and pressed themselves into a shadowed doorway, hiding behind a merchant's stall shuttered for the night.
The patrol passed, six soldiers in silver and red armor, weapons at their belts, helmets polished, faces expressionless.
They moved like they were on edge, like they'd been told someone was hunting among the citizens.
Only when the sound of footsteps faded did Ren motion for them to move again.
They weaved through several streets, looping around marketplaces and cutting across bridges that overlooked shallow caverns.
Then, they reached it.
The stone corridor widened here, forming a circular clearing.
This was the last checkpoint before entry into the deeper restricted layers of Carthage.
A great stone arch stood in the distance, and beyond it was the sloped tunnel that led to the deeper, richer layers where the elite lived.
