Ascension of the elder

Chapter 100: Here comes the BOOM

"Of course that room doesn't bother me I've been in there too many times to care anymore."

When Faye heard this her heart went out to this girl, for her not to be affected by the torture room they had come through when they first entered meant that she had either been a witness or subjected to the perversions in that room so much that she had become desensitised to it. Faye felt even worse than the other girls within her team as she knew the truth of this compound and the reason Kyle had agreed to the assault beyond the agreement he had with his spy.

"Okay girl if you go into the room and find somewhere to hide just in case we'll send any girls we find your way so can you look after them?" Faye asked as she needed to get moving to complete her mission.

"No problem I'll see you soon." The girl responded with a little bit more energy to her voice as for the first time she felt hope kindled within her. As she was about to enter the room one of the other girls from Faye's team spoke up.

"Oh girl what is your name?"

"My name is Lilith Miles."

"Wait you've got the same surname as the family?"

"Yes I'm the daughter of the family head, I won't delay you any longer please come back soon."

With that she entered the room and closed the door behind her. The members of 'steel lotus' all turned and looked at Faye who met their eyes before she answered their unspoken question.

"Yes these are the wives and daughters of the higher ranked members of the family. They treat their women as property or breeding stock. According to the Lords information when someone marries into the family they are taken here and are tortured until they willingly accept the slave seal."

Slave seals cannot be placed on unwilling subjects, which is why it is usually done to criminals on death row or those who have taken a contract and to complete the agreement have the seal placed on signing the contract which will activate if the necessary clause activates.

But as with all things people will find a way to circumvent those rules, in this case through sustained mental and physical "conditioning" the Miles family successfully made these women accept the seal. It was surprising Lilith had retained her mind and hope so Faye could only pray the others where in a similar state.

With that Faye directed 3 members to head west and the other 2 and she would head east. The way the building was laid out meant that they could sweep the top floor and the first group to reach the stair way would leave one member there to monitor if anyone was coming up.

Rushing through the second floor they moved room to room searching for anyone. In a couple of the rooms they found some women and directed them to Lilith's location while they continued their mission. The second floor was cleared in around 10 minutes with every room checked and they met up at the staircase leading down to the first floor.

This was where they may encounter guards and enemies but it was also where most of the women were located so they moved down the staircase in single file without making a sound. Faye took point and as they reached the bottom of the staircase she took out her blade and used the reflection from it to look down the halls without poking her head out.

The eastern hall was clear but the western hall had 2 guards walking down it. They were heading their way so Faye indicated for the team to back it past the bend in the staircase so they were out of sight.

Faye lowered down and used the blade close to ground level to see the doorway while being less obvious but luck wasn't on their side. As the guards began going past one of them must have seen some reflected light or something else caught his attention, he tapped his partner on the shoulder and both turned to the staircase and began walking towards it.

Faye made a quick decision and pulled a throwing knife from her belt while still holding her tanto blade in her other hand. She moved quickly to the back wall of the staircase and using her momentum ran around the wall onto the wall of the staircase before flipping over the guards. Using her throwing knife she stabbed the guard on the right in the temple and continuing her flip she ended up behind the other guard and drove her blade into the base of his skull where the spine connects. She caught the guard she stabbed in the skull while one of the others caught the first guard before he could hit the ground.

Silent and skilful are the watchwords of 'steel lotus' and due to the location she stabbed the second guard while leaving her blade in the temple of the first meant there was little to no blood. They carried the guards back upstairs and hid them in a nearby room, hiding them within a closet. While they weren't expecting anyone to come up it was better to ere on the side of caution.

Returning to the staircase with caution Faye did the same again and checked to make sure it was clear. This time it was fin so she gave a signal and they ranged out. The first floor followed a similar design to the floor above but in the centre was a large bathing area with one entrance and no windows facing inwards.

Based on what Lilith had told them the entrance to the guard room was on the opposite side of the building to the entrance of the bathing area, probably to keep the guards from being tempted. Again the squad was split into 2 fire teams heading in opposite directions.

Faye's team moved down the halls and occasionally came across some guards doing their rounds. These guards were members of the Miles family and some also had slaves/wives in the compound so knowing they were aware of what was happening and were also active participants Faye and the girls had no qualms in killing them. As they were now ranging out they no longer bothered hiding the bodies and instead moved with speed, checking all the side room to ensure they didn't miss anything. It didn't appear as though anyone was in these rooms so they were able to proceed to where the doors were located.

Being cautious Faye first looked for a crack or opening she could look through, on the hinge side of the left hand door a knot seemed to have fallen out which allowed Faye to look in. There were a large number of men sitting around tables either drinking or playing cards, this was the guard room. Faye took two innocent looking triangular pieces of metal from her pack.

Now you may think these were grenades or some flash magical trinket but sorry no they are merely strong wedges which Faye placed just below the hinges to hold up the guards. If they thought something was wrong with the hinges they would take their time rather than just but it open and with that many trained warriors they would struggle to battle them just based on their numbers.

With that they moved on to clear the remainder of the hall and met up with the other 2 members of the team while the last was waiting at the entrance to the bathing area. They rushed to meet up with their last member so they could complete this mission.

Entering the bathing area they were greeted by screams and panic as the women all moved away to the far end of the room. It appeared they had timed this well as the women were all dressed or nearly dressed it seems they had just finished and were getting ready for bed.

Faye stepped forward and was greeted by a dignified woman who was standing ahead of the others apparently in an attempt to protect them. This woman had long black hair and deep green eyes; the aura of nobility that she projected was there regardless of her circumstances and it was obvious that she led these women.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" She asked while trying to understand who these people were.

"My lord has an agreement to complete so you need to come with us to safety." Faye responded while she looked directly at the woman. For her part the woman could feel that Faye didn't mean her any harm but she knew that if she wanted to they would all be dead regardless of what they planned.

*Boom* A shocking sound was head as they were staring each other down followed by a jangling sound. Hearing this Faye's team all moved away from the doors placing themselves between them and the women.

The guards had arrived, entering the room they spread out 10 men wide and three deep with a few loose guards standing behind due to their numbers already having taken a hit. The guards were all wearing studded armour of brown and black material and carried the usual large swords. The women huddled down when they saw the guards enter as they had already been cowed and feared men in general but these men in particular.

While they weren't permitted to injure the women who weren't theirs unless they tried to escape, they could and did use the slave seals to cause them pain and took a perverse enjoyment from the torment they caused. Even the green eyed woman moved away and huddled down with the other women to avoid standing out.

"Ho ho what have we got here a few little sluts delivering themselves to me? I must thank you it'll save me finding some entertainment." The one who spoke was a man dead centre of the guard's formation and he had some red markings on his armour showing his status as a captain.

Faye wasn't paying attention to him, instead she was looking at the steam from the baths and it was moving and flowing in a strange way. The steam began to move and coalesce at the door behind the guards. Quickly it took a human like shape as one of the guards noticed the steam and looked over his shoulder to see this 'mist man' but before he could do anything the figure raised a hand in a strange pose before Faye shouted.

"DOWN!"