On the evening of the third day, as the sun was setting the carriage descended upon Castillan.
Similar to its southern sister city, it bore large stone and metallic walls engraved with hidden protective runes; Although they could not be compared to the vast array of runes that surrounded the great city of Rosa.
The southern gate had a large archway that filtered traffic in and out of the city.
As they approached the wall, the stationed guards made a quick haste to allow them into the city.
"They were made aware of my visit beforehand. However, our destination is going to change; we don't want to be predictable."
Xaryus looked out at the guards that wore the iconic armour of the Lion's Guard.
"I wonder how far your family's influence truly reaches? I wouldn't be surprised if you controlled a majority of the western regions of Inux." He spoke.
Rosaly laughed in response to Xaryus' words, "Who wouldn't want to be an ally of the family that bears the greatest artificer of this era?" She quipped, a hint of pride piercing through her sullen mood.
The carriage swiftly made its way through the outer ring of Castillan. Its buildings were similar yet different from those in Rosa; most houses in the city were made of various types of bricks whereas buildings in Rosa were made of stone.
Rosa was once a beautiful city of trade before the dusk war, and the Lionheart took it upon themselves to keep its old aesthetic instead of implementing newer styles of construction. Instead, they reinforced their infrastructure using their skills in instilling runes.
Eventually, the carriage left the residential area of the outer ring and entered a part of the city that seemed more industrial. It was a few blocks away from the wall of the middle ring and it housed several warehouses and small buildings.
"Where are we?" Xaryus asked.
"This is an area used for manufacturing called the quarry. It's one of four designated areas for storage and production.", Rosaly responded.
Henry stopped the carriage in front of one of the larger warehouses.
Zadius, Rosaly and Xaryus made their way out the carriage in a single file. As they exited, Rosaly looked over to Xaryus to catch a glimpse of his handsome face but only saw a stern expression.
His once calm expression had vanished, replaced by a twisted frown; his eyes almost void of emotion.
Anxiously, she turned towards Zadius who was now standing near the front of the carriage, his gaze scanning over the warehouse.
"Xaryus." Zadius called out, his voice commanding.
Xaryus moved towards Rosaly, placing his hand on her shoulder and placing himself between her and the warehouse.
"I don't sense anyone inside." Xaryus said.
"Me neither, but I smell blood, faintly, but it's there." Zadius added.
Drawing a dagger, he moved towards the large doors at the front of the warehouse.
"Stay here." Xaryus said to Rosaly whilst he stepped forward, a firm grip on his sword's handle.
"Go find the Lion's guard, Henry." Rosaly commanded, her eyes stuck on the warehouse.
"I'm assuming you don't intend to be here when I get back?" Henry asked.
Rosaly simply nodded her head.
"Be careful princess." Henry whipped his reins, causing the horses to pull off and out of the quarry with galloping speeds.
Zadius approached the door first, his animus now flowing through every inch of his body. Slowly, he pressed his hand to the warehouse door and pushed it open.
With it, a wave of iron filled his nostrils and a horrid sight shaded by darkness filled his sight.
He paused for a moment before looking back at Rosaly.
There was a plethora of emotions across Zadius' face.
The most concerning for Rosaly was shock and concern.
Gritting her teeth, she pushed forward and strutted into the warehouse; concern filling her chest.
The smell of iron assaulted her nostrils like a battering ram. Not being able to see, her anxiety spiked, "Is that blood!?" She thought.
Reaching her hand out reflexively, she flipped a switch, turning on various animus and electricity power lights throughout the warehouse.
Rosaly was suddenly viewing the blood red canvas that was once her beloved home. Tens of bodies laid across the floor and strewn across machines and railings, their blood staining the floors and walls.
In disbelief, she stepped forward, her foot landing in a large puddle of blood.
She froze for a moment before her eyes shakily glanced down to the puddle. She followed a thin stream of blood that ran from the puddle into a crevice between two manufacturing devices.
There laid a familiar individual with their neck slit.
"Kyle?" Rosaly said out loud.
A sudden wave of pressure swelled in her stomach, retching forward, she threw up the lunch she had a few hours prior.
Spitting out the last of her bile she turned towards Xaryus and Zadius, standing around three corpses with a similar slit in the necks.
Zadius was in a stooped position, holding a bloodied, metallic sphere in the palm of his hand with a blue ring engraved deep within it.
"An extrinsic aspect maybe?" Zadius asked as he handed Xaryus the sphere.
Taking a closer look, Xaryus noticed several runes engraved in the blue ring seared into the sphere. Analyzing them for a moment, he focused and twisted the sphere, its top and bottom halves rotating in opposite directions.
With it, there was a subtle shift in the surroundings.
"It was an aspect that keeps excessive sound from escaping a specific radius. It's dropped now." Xaryus responded, dropping it to the ground.
As the clang of metal echoed throughout the warehouse, Zadius moved deeper into the manufacturing plant and Xaryus moved towards Rosaly.
"You should have stayed outside." Xaryus said as he stepped towards Rosaly, unaware of how to properly console her in this situation.
With no response, he sighed and forgoed any attempt to keep trying to console her. "They wouldn't have killed everyone if they knew you hadn't arrived. What are you not telling us?"
Rosaly stood silent for a moment, pondering deeply if she could reveal her truth.
Eventually, she spoke, "Pandora."
"What's Pandora?" Xaryus asked.
But before he could get a response, Zadius' voice sounded from deep within the warehouse.
Turning away a little disappointed he couldn't hear Rosaly's response; Xaryus moved towards the sound of Zadius' voice.
Traversing the terrain of corpses, Rosaly's eyes strayed over them. She scanned the once familiar faces of her colleagues and mentors.
Each glance pushed a wave of pressure up from her stomach, yet she resisted the urge to vomit.
Passing around a corner and moving down into a short hallway, Rosaly and Xaryus saw Zadius stooped down in front of a single metal door at the end of the hallway.
Beside him was a smaller woman with dark skin and curly, amber hair. Zadius was pressing his hands tightly against her side, the woman's shirt and his hands soaked in blood.
"A dwarf." Xaryus exclaimed as it was the first time he had seen one of their kind in person.
Rosaly however, rushed past Xaryus and fell to her knees at the dwarvish woman's side, "Surva!" Rosaly wailed, her voice filled with pain.
"You're alive." Rosaly continued.
Weakly, Surva's gaze shifted towards Rosaly and a weak smile found itself on her face, "I'm glad you're safe, I was worried since they came looking for Pandora." Surva replied, "When they couldn't find it themselves, they began to kill us off one by one. But when they noticed that we weren't breaking… They slaughtered us."
Each of Surva's words were muffled by the blood filling her mouth.
"Why didn't you give it to them!?" Rosaly questioned, the pain lining her voice only growing deeper.
"Who's to say they would have spared us? And Pandora will revolutionize the way we view the world, just like a true Lionheart, you have made something that will pioneer us into a newer and safer era." With each word, her voice grew softer and softer.
Slowly, water began to fill Surva's eyes as the reality of her end began to set it.
"How could I just give that away?" She ended as she grasped Rosaly's hand as tight as she could.
With that her eyes became too heavy and her breaths shallow. Surva could have never imagined she would meet her end in such a way. But her thoughts of family and the needless slaughter of her students slowly faded, and so did her consciousness.
"Wait, no no no no. Give her a potion of something!" Rosaly screamed, her eyes darting between Xaryus and Zadius.
At that moment, she was the only one who didn't accept the reality of the situation.
"A normal potion won't recover her from this state, we were too late." Zadius said, removing his hands from Surva's side.
Rosaly held Surva' hand tightly, she felt as if thorned barbs had wrapped themselves around her heart. Her eyes watered as her mentor's lifeless body laid before her.
A pain filled whimper began to leave her mouth, tears now falling down her face in full force.
"... I understand your grief, but we have to secure Pandora and leave this area immediately." Zadius consoled Rosaly briefly, "They were confident enough to attack a facility owned by the Lionhearts, we don't know how they knew Pandora was here or what they took with them."
"Each moment we stay here, we're putting ourselves in more possible danger." Xaryus added.
A moment passed before Rosaly gently placed Surva's hand down and composed herself. She rose to feet and wiped away her tears before turning to the right wall of the hallway.
Placing her hand on the wall, she began to mumble under her breath.
Once her whispered incantation was completed, that part of the wall began to glow before slowly warping into an open doorframe; revealing a stairway leading downwards.
Rosaly took a step towards the top of the descending stairway and stared down into it for a few moments, "This is what they all died for."