The inside of the whorehouse looked far better than the outside and made me question my life decisions, "Am I on the right path?" I absently commented on the corpse cooling at my feet.

  It was one of the roaming guards within the pleasure house. Thankfully, there were plenty of rooms to store the bodies until we were done. "Are you doing this for money or pleasure?" I chuckled at the cat man's question.

  I shook my head and peeked out through the cracked doorway, "If I wanted either of those, I wouldn't have started down this path. I expect pain, heartache, battle, betrayal, and death, but neither pleasure nor wealth." I told Bast's Spawn. Sure, I would probably see mountains of wealth, hopefully, but the majority of that money would go towards reconstruction efforts. "Moving," I told the others once the hallway was clear.

  The two cats followed me out of the room and down the hallway as we continued to look for the svers and Seb. We had already downed most of the svers; only six were still alive according to the Quest info. I was starting to wonder who the Madam was, while a man could own and run this pce, they usually had at least one woman overseeing certain parts of the operation.

  The Quest hadn't revealed anything as of yet, but I didn't doubt there was someone here who filled that role. I wanted them to be found as they were just as responsible for what was happening just as much as Seb was responsible.

  A loud scream startled me, I looked over the railing and down at the first floor. A woman dressed in a light slip was backing out of a room. I heard the pounding feet, and a pair of men came rushing towards her with bdes drawn. Both were tagged [Sver]. I vaulted the railing as I unched a flurry of Light Bolts towards the woman.

  The two Svers went down screaming and blindly swinging their weapons. I rolled as I nded, shoved the screaming woman back into the room, and smmed the door. I looked up, but the two men had been finished off by the cats. I started to turn the other way, then staggered as I felt a sharp spike of pain that drove me to my knees.

  --- Battle Alert --- Debuffs Added... Rogue's Poison: Suffer 3 Poison Damage/Second. (Duration: 30 Seconds)Bloodletting: Decrease Health Regeneration by 15%. (Duration: 60 Seconds) --- Battle Alert ---As two-thirds of my Health disappeared in the blink of an eye, I felt a knife pressed against my throat, and my head was jerked back, "Who are you, and why are you here?" The man's breath was horrible and stank of stale beer. For the first time, I wished the A.I. hadn't gotten the smells so good, before I could respond, I was jerked to my feet as the man used me as a shield, "You and I are going for a walk, if your friends want you to live, they won't do anything to stop us." the man punctuated the sentence with a short jab to my throat.

  I lost another couple of points of Health, but he didn't slit my throat. "Ok, rex," I told the man as I nodded my head towards Bast's Spawn. I could tell they were furious, but with the knife at my throat, the two in front of me wouldn't do anything. "Who are you?" I asked the man to slowly walk backward as I choked up on the handle of my hammer.

  I knew the guy was going to slit my throat as soon as we got outside, which meant I had to stop us before then. "Doesn't matter, I am leaving, I just need you long enough to get ou,t then we can go our separate ways." I chuckled.

  The man dug the knife into my throat, "You think you can ensve innocent people and use them as whores, and walk away without paying the price?" I asked the man.

  The man stiffened slightly and cursed, I drove my head backward as I unleashed the Light Bolt downwards into the man's leg. My captor screamed as his grip loosened enough that I dropped to the ground. The man's scream cut off suddenly, turning into a wet gurgle as I rolled over and to my feet in time to see the man stagger and fall, a quartet of arrows giving mute testimony to what had killed the man.

  I heard the soft thump as my escort joined me on the first floor, "We need to leave, the City Guard has been alerted, and the shadows that have been stalking you since you got here are closing in." I looked over at the cat man.

  I could tell he was worried, "Get out, I have to finish this." I told him as I grabbed a Health Potion and downed the contents, causing the lingering pain to fade away as my Health shot up to 75% and continued to rise.

  Two of the Svers and Seb were still alive according to the Quest info, I disappeared into Stealth after quickly looting the corpses and headed for the front of the building through the corridor. As I did, I checked the rooms, with the screams announcing our presence most of the ongoing activities had ended as people fled the whorehouse.

  The few people I encountered were scrambling to get clear of the building that suddenly found itself without guards, as most of them were dead. I assumed the women and men who had been forced into this life were fleeing as quickly as they could, just like the former customers.

  I let them go after making sure the former employees were ok as I looked for the holdouts. My search finally located a small storeroom, but what drew my attention was a set of stairs that led underground. I could hear the whistles of the City Guard that were drawing near the building.

  I disappeared into Stealth as I slowly made my way down the steps; thankfully, they had been crafted from stone, so I didn't have to worry about wood creaking or breaking underneath my feet. As I got to the base of the stairs, a rge basement was revealed.

  Large cages lined the room, which had probably about two dozen men and women, as well as torture implements scattered all around. What drew my attention were three figures quietly arguing back and forth. I quietly made my way across the room, skirting around the various tables and the ongoing argument.

  The two guards were urging the bigger man, trying to leave. Their words confirmed he was Seb, "Sir, we have to go!" one of the Svers urged the big man.

  Seb shook his head, "No, Ricker will come through and put down those who were foolish enough to attack our little operation here," the big Sver told his subordinates.

  The smaller men shook their heads, "The attackers were not Human sir, I got a gnce and either they were Lion-Kin or Bast's Spawn. Which means the Medjay or temple are involved. We need to leave and flee north!" one of them urged which pissed me off even more.

  If they ran north, they were either colborating with the Ilithian invaders or had a business arrangement with them. Either way, they were the enemy of the people of this city for more reasons than just being svers. The other Svers were expendable, but I needed to capture Seb and turn him over to the local authorities I could trust, or the Medjay, to see what they could drag out of the man.

  Three-on-one wasn't a good fight, especially if I had to take Seb alive. I frowned and gnced over where I could feel someone staring at me, Bast simply stared back at me. 'Do it!' the Goddess urged.

  I closed my eyes and mentally braced myself as I triggered Mantle of Divinity. The familiar rush of energy coursed through my body while enhancing my senses as my attention zeroed in on the trio. I moved as silently as I could while the three continued to argue.

  The Sver's head was ripped from his shoulders as my hammer smmed into it, as I triggered Backstab and Savage Strike. The other two stared at me in stunned amazement, their attention was broken as I hit the other man tagged as [Sver] with a trio of Light Bolts.

  The man went down screaming, his Health in the critical range, as Seb finally recovered and unched himself towards me. I ducked under the man's swinging sword, and the dagger in his hand almost managed to gut me, but I managed to grab his arm.

  A sharp twist and a strike to his elbow caused the man to scream as he dropped the dagger, and his left arm fell uselessly to his side. I sent a jab to his stomach, then jaw, causing his head to jerk back as he stumbled and took a drunken swing at me. I easily parried the strike before stepping forward and driving a kick towards the man's knee. A loud snap filled the air as the man screamed in agony.

  Seb colpsed, the sword skittered across the ground, and I kicked him in the head as hard as I could, causing blood and teeth to spray across the ground as the man colpsed. I took a couple of deep breaths and pushed the Divine power back as I turned my focus on the st Sver.

  He was still alive but in bad shape. I turned my focus to the nearest cage. "Where are the keys?" I asked the man who was studying me.

  After a moment, he pointed to where the stairs were, "On the wall, a key ring. Who are you?" the man asked as I moved towards where he indicated and found two key rings. I also heard the stomp of feet and shouts of the city guard on the main floor.

  I felt Bast look at me, and I gnced over at the cat, 'You have possible allies nearby, and some of them have entered the building.' I frowned before grabbing the keys.

  I made my way to the nearest cage, "I am Alexander Drake,' I shouted at the man as I gnced at Bast, 'Who and why?" I absently asked the Goddess while ignoring the questioning looks from the captives.

  Bast's chuckle almost seemed to echo in my head, 'An order almost as old as the Medjay, if they stay true, they won't have a choice in helping you. Just be honest with them.' Bast urged me.

  I snorted as I shook my head and gnced at her as I chose another key on the ring to try on the lock, "How honest do you want me to be?" I asked the Goddess. I felt the eyes of the captives and I could tell they thought I was crazy. "Can they see you?" I asked Bast.

  I didn't doubt invisibility was one of the many things she could do if she wanted to. 'Only about events here, but I don't doubt they will be able to figure out who you are and what you may become. No, they cannot see me!' Her ughter made me sigh.

  I stopped trying to open the cage and gred at the Goddess, "You want me to do that thing here, well I want you to stop being invisible and making it seem like I am bat shit crazy." I told the Goddess.

  Bast smirked and jumped up onto one of the tables. I heard more than one gasp of surprise from the captives, "See! I am not crazy, just talking to someone who likes to remain hidden." I told them as I began to work on the lock again.