Cullen stopped dead in his tracks.
"What did you say?"
Suddenly, a lot of things made sense to him. The reason they hid among the miners was to hide from the other Grade-E. It also explains the terrible feeling he got from it, and how he couldn't find a core.
'Does Eric know about this? No, there's no point in lying to us.'
"You call this one The Underground, what's the name for the other?"
Iris's face darkened.
"Limbo."
Cullen now realized how much danger he was truly in and that Iris had probably prevented his death. The crystal Abomination from before was enough to defeat all five of them, and this Grade-E is supposed to be far worse?
'We may be in over our heads…'
"So you guys live here to avoid Limbo? Why not go to the surface and run away?"
Cullen may have already known the answer, and it wasn't good.
"We can't get back up, it's simply impossible."
'Greye's teleportation was blocked, so it makes sense. This place is preventing them from leaving.'
And the most terrifying fact occurred to Cullen then.
'Could it be that The Amethyst Burrow and Limbo are working together? They each share the same goal, which is to end humanity.'
Another outpost came into view ahead of them. Iris told Cullen not to attack any Jewels, to which he complied. They snuck by the guard and continued.
"How strong are the people that came with you?" Iris asked. "In terms of the Jewels here."
Cullen thought to himself and realized that they hadn't fought too many battles.
"I've killed a bunch of the guards in the caves fairly easily, and most of the others are stronger than I am. The only other battle we fought was against the Jewel made from different crystals, commanding a storm of them. The miners told us that its core was in the castle, so we could only escape."
Iris staggered.
"You survived an encounter with a Dancer?"
"Dancer? That's what you call it?"
Even thinking about that Abomination gave Cullen a headache. It was by far the most powerful one he had encountered.
"Yes, our people avoid that one at all costs."
Cullen had so many questions for them, but doubted he would get answers. It was reasonable to be cautious.
"How many of you are there?"
Surprisingly, Iris was about to answer him. But she suddenly stopped in place and looked at the cave ahead.
"There are four people far down the cave, seemingly looking for something."
'Four people…'
Cullen raised his eyebrows.
"They might be the ones I came with!"
He looked at Iris, realizing that her ability may have something to do with navigation or detecting objects throughout the cave system.
"Can you see any details about them?"
She gave Cullen a suspicious glance.
"Why don't you tell me the details?"
'Should've expected that.'
Cullen began to describe Eric, Adam, Greye, and Ryan. He started with permanent features, not mentioning their weapons or clothes, just in case they were lost.
"Oh, and Adam should have cuts all over his body from fighting The Dancer. I don't think it'll heal that fast."
Iris stared into a wall for a moment before looking back at Cullen.
"We can go then. They seem to be moving through the cave system, so I'll try to intercept where I think they'll be."
Five minutes later, Cullen was still following Iris.
'It's impressive how far she can see with her ability. We've travelled at least 500 meters from our original position; all that information must hurt her head. Maybe she has to focus on a position to see more details?'
"Your friends seem to be in a rush, looking for something. Do they know you're down here?"
"In a rush?"
'If the four of them are together, that means Adam and Greye found or rescued Ryan and Eric. But they knew I was down here, so why are they so worried? It hasn't been that long.'
Cullen froze.
'Unless… Eric does know about Limbo.'
"Something wrong?" Iris asked.
"No, it's fine."
As they continued walking, it made more and more sense to Cullen. Eric must have some reason to keep Limbo a secret. Maybe it is just as terrible as Iris describes it, and he only wanted their mission to be about The Amethyst Burrow. And when he found out Cullen was exploring the caves by himself, he worried about the well.
'Luckily, Iris saved me. But now I'm really curious about who came here before and gave Eric the information. Does he know about Iris and her people, too?'
"They're right up here."
Cullen believed his questions would be answered soon enough. As they continued down the path, the sound of running footsteps grew louder ahead. The first one to come into view was The Triarch, who let out a sigh of relief when he saw Cullen.
'I've never seen him do that before…'
The others came from behind him, inspecting Iris and the others.
"Cullen!" Greye shouted. "You're nowhere near where we left you!"
"Sorry, I… uh… got lost."
The attention shifted to Iris, who stood there awkwardly.
"This is Iris." Cullen introduced. "She saved me from entering that well."
Cullen looked directly at Eric, seeing his face shift at the mention of the well.
'So he does know.'
"What well?" Adam asked.
He, Ryan, and Greye all looked at Eric, who sighed.
"We weren't supposed to enter the caves or encounter that thing at all during our mission. I should have warned you all, it's my fault."
"How is that possible?" Iris interrupted.
All of them turned to her, surprised.
"They roam above, in the caves as well as The Underground."
Cullen, confused, tried to make sense of what she said.
"What are you talking about?" Adam mocked.
"Instead of The Amethyst Burrow, they call it The Underground," Cullen clarified.
Iris scratched her head, sighing.
"We call them The Gatherers. They come above Limbo and drag us down there, but never kill."
"Eric, what the hell is going on?" Ryan demanded, turning to the Triarch.
"I don't know. The only information I got was about a well in the cave system that must be avoided at all costs."
The four of them looked to Cullen for answers.
"The well leads to Limbo, a second and far more dangerous Grade-E."
Silence.
"There are two?" Adam murmured.
It's reasonable they would have the same reaction as Cullen. What wasn't reasonable, though, was two Grade-E Abominations so close to each other.
"Yes, and I can't believe you thought you could avoid Limbo."
Iris seemed upset for some reason.
"The Gatherers are impossible to kill, not to mention terrifying. They take anyone, children even, and we never see them again."
'Gatherers? They seem similar to the Kamikazes, leaving their Grade-Es to bring people back.'
"How many of them are there?" Cullen asked.
"We've only confirmed two."
Cullen and the others looked at each other.
"The Apex Predator."
Clank. Clank.
Heavy footsteps came from behind as a Jewel guard appeared. It paused when it noticed them, then was eviscerated by a beam of water before anyone else could react. It gathered back into Eric's sword as he sheathed it.
"Does this increase the count of Grade-Es to eight?" Adam asked Eric.
"No."
"…"
"I can't tell you why, but this one has been accounted for. Still, I didn't know it was here."
Iris's eyes widened.
"Does that mean there are seven of these you've discovered?"
"Yes," Eric answered. "And we've never seen two this close."
They spoke to each other some more, but Cullen was lost in thought. He didn't know what would come next. He didn't know whether they would abandon the mission or even be able to escape.
Could he stay here if they decided to leave?
That's what he wanted, after all. To escape the city. Lyra certainly wouldn't allow it, but it may be different with Eric. Or, if all else fails, he could slip away.
People somehow live in The Amethyst Burrow, which Cullen wasn't too much of a fan of. But if they succeed in killing it? What would happen with Iris's people? The ash above made the nearby surface unlivable, so they would have to find someplace else.
He put these thoughts aside for now, deciding to focus on escaping.
"I can bring you to our hideout," Iris said.
Cullen, now back in the conversation, was surprised to hear her say this.
'How was she convinced?'
"But you need to follow everything I say. And to be clear, you are visitors. Our goal is the same as yours: to kill and escape The Underground. We know more than you, but you have the power we need."
The four of them looked at Eric, who stared back at Iris.
"I'll agree, but we must be privy to everything you know. We will not agree to fight for you blindly."
After a few seconds, Iris and the two kids walked past them.
"Follow and be quiet."