'That was way less than a minute! It doesn't make sense, if Zolgrish wanted to kill me he could have just tried to tamper with my Warp.' Lith thought.

"Good gods! I have been ordered to make the arrays collapse and kill all of the monsters inside, but not like this!" Vorgh said.

"A whole ancient lab, centuries of knowledge. All lost forever! What the heck happened down there?"

"I have no clue." Lith lied through his teeth.

"After defeating the leader of the Balors, I had no strength left to fight the orc shaman. Between his powerful purple crystal, his mutated minions, and their magical weaponry I had no chance by myself."

"A shaman with a purple crystal?" Vorgh said.

"Was he tampering with the arrays?"

"I don't know. I was too busy saving my skin. All I know is that he was using his crystal to seize control of the facility." Lith replied.

"Dammit! Why didn't you tell us earlier? My spell and his meddling must have triggered a domino effect. Now there is nothing we can salvage."

"With all due respect, sir, I stated in my earlier report that there was a shaman. I didn't know about the crystal until I saw it with my own eyes and as you said yourself, my amulet was blocked." Lith didn't like the allegations implied in the Brigadier General's voice.

He was right, of course, but that didn't make them any more pleasant.

"You are really lucky, son. Had I not waited to hear from you before activating my array, you would have died along with the monsters. We can't afford to have a nest so close to the borders. Especially one full of well armed mutants."

Vorgh sighed. Lith's doctored version of the story made sense, but the General wasn't going to apologize. The high command would hold him responsible for the loss of the lab and fry his ass. Being nice was the last thing on his mind.

Lith gave him a salute and hung up before calling his handler for a full report. Even though it was already night-time, Kamila replied immediately. After returning home from work, she didn't change her clothes in case something happened, so she was still wearing her uniform.

Her relief hearing Lith was alright didn't last long. After all that time, she was used to hearing him casually talk about risking his life in battle, but when he told her about the lab's collapse, Kamila went pale and almost dropped the communicator.

She called him from her civilian amulet the moment Lith was done with his report.

"Those idiots! When I lost your signal, I asked for reinforcements to check your status, not to have you killed. Thank the gods nothing happened." She said.

"Don't worry, you just followed procedure. None of what happened is your fault. The worst thing is that I succeeded in protecting Jambel, but recovering the lab was an utter failure. No leave for me this time." Lith sighed.

Lith had gained quite some loot from the mission, but he had nothing to offer the Griffon Kingdom. Before revealing the existence of the silver mines, he wanted to check if he was entitled to a share of them or just get a thank you handshake.

Even that was a longshot, since the destruction of the underground complex had probably scattered the silver veins everywhere. Recovering some of it from the debris might turn out to be even more difficult than finding a new vein.

"About that, there's already a new assignment waiting for you tomorrow." Kamila was depressed too. She had hoped they would have some time to spend together since there were many things that she wanted to share with him.

"At least tell me it's a routine job." Lith said.

"I don't want to jinx it, so I'll just tell you what I read. A local noble, Viscount Krame has hired an entire adventurers guild, allegedly to protect his household and properties during the winter lockdown.

"The city lord called the army a week ago, saying that Krame was using his private army to harass the citizens of Zantia and ignoring the local constables. We haven't heard from him since then, so it's up to you to go check on the situation."

"Great! A 'normal' case again. With my luck, this Krame is trying to resurrect an ancient god, or maybe an Abomination has replaced him and is building an army of greater undead." Lith said.

His ridiculous scenarios made her giggle, at least until she remembered Thrud's scheme, the Black Star, and suddenly they didn't seem so far fetched anymore.

"Wouldn't you like to talk about something more cheerful?" She said while taking off her jacket and letting her hair down.

"Like what? I have yet to report what happened to Lord Wyalon, then I have to find a place to sleep before diving into the next mess this job has in store for me. I even have our big talk waiting for me in Belius.

"You'd find more cheer in a graveyard than in my life."

"Like the fact that my first day as a field assistant went great." She replied with a smile.

"Oh, shit! Sorry Kami, I completely forgot…"

"Or about the fact that I keep practicing my cooking." Kamila cut him short. She had risked losing him too many times in a single day to care about such a small matter.

'I work from nine to five and then return to the safety of my own home, whereas Lith is on a deadly clock 24/7.' She thought.

"Gods, I'm all sweaty from the stress. Let me take a quick shower and then I'll call you back."

"No need, I want to hear everything about your first day on the job. I'll gladly keep you company." Lith said after making sure that he was completely alone.

"Did you miss me so much or are you just a pervert?" Yet she didn't wait for his answer before bringing the amulet with her in the bathroom as she undressed.

***

The following day, city of Xylita

Going back to her hometown was never easy for Kamila. Thanks to its flourishing commerce, Xylita was the smallest city in the Kellar region to have a Warp Gate. It was far from being a metropolis and it was resistant to changes as well as its inhabitants.

Kamila had many memories from the time she lived there, but none happy. She would return solely to visit her sister, Zinya, and it wasn't an easy feat. The two sisters loved each other, but Zinya's marriage crippled her more than her blindness ever could.

Her husband, Fallmug, forbade her any social relationship without his supervision. He considered Zinya a clumsy, useless thing. Her helplessness was cute in the bedchamber or as long as she sat still, like the pretty flower she was.

Fallmug couldn't bear the thought of his wife bringing him shame with her disability, or even worse, pity. His business rivals had spread many rumors about why he had chosen a blind woman for wife and each one was rude at best.

Ever since Kamila had disowned her family, he had forbidden her from setting foot in his home.

The two sisters could only meet during Zinya's birthday. On every other day, Kamila needed to bribe the house staff or wait for a letter from her sister to casually mention an event she would attend so that they could casually meet.

This time, however, things were different.

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