ATLANTION - LAYLA BOOK1

Part 26 Adam Callidus

Adam was surprised by Felis's report. She had infiltrated the underground workshop and followed the craftsman who had recently visited his office. Among his trinkets, she had discovered dangerous dark magic artifacts and other nasty items.

Felis was an excellent spy and had hidden between the workbenches and dark corners of the massive underground workshop. She had dozed off on a grotesque statue fixed upon a half-ruined arch in the abandoned train station the blacksmith used. From there, she had spotted the girl they were looking for working alone that day, but she had lost the trail of the blacksmith himself.

"Good work, Felis," Adam said, looking up from the report. "I need you to stay put and keep an eye out for Detective Amos Morgan. I have a bad feeling that my man might be in great danger."

Felis nodded and flicked her tail. "Understood, Adam. I'll stay put and keep watch for the detective."

An evening ago, the two had visited the Black Night Market in the Magic Guild to fetch components for the energy detector that Adam had commissioned. Horrible monsters had attacked them, and by Felis's description, Adam had guessed they were fallen fairies. Felis had also spotted a flower tattoo on Farras's assistant's arm, the exact one described by a hospital nurse and sketched in the police reports.

To his surprise, the guild guards had captured the blue-haired girl as a trespasser, and she would face judgment in the Arena. The Chaos Hunter must be alerted before it was too late. Adam had to go on a rescue mission, far more complicated than the ones he had performed lately. He did not enjoy opening a gate to the past.

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The nymph statue stood dusty on the side table, untouched for months. Adam pushed back the heavy sofa in the center of his office and removed the threadbare rug that covered the parquet and a small vaulted entrance. A cloud of dirt filled his eyes and nose. He separated the sculpture from its wooden bottom to reveal sharp alloy bars covered with an embossed geometrical pattern. They fit perfectly in the left corner of the door. He counted the holes in the metal and pushed the bars in the corresponding order. The lock clicked, and the nifty mechanism was still working perfectly. He had ordered this marvel a long time ago, and the former Craftsmen Guild Master himself had made this door for him. There was a hidden cell under his agency, a narrow passage between two walls.

The families that managed this location had no clue about this space, concealed between other chambers and opaque blocks. He fingered his best friends, the glistening black blades mounted on the damp wall. So much death saturated their cold flesh. The hungry metal screamed for blood, imprisoned in this dusty darkness and forgotten by their master. Adam grinned and sighed. One more time, he could be himself and not a shadow. The feather-like black suit still fit him, and the long black scarf and cloak hid his fiery hair. Dozens of daggers and other weapons dissolved easily in the infinite folds of his garments. He brushed the soil from the bronze mirror in front of him and recognized the former self.

"I am not that man anymore," he whispered to himself, his reflection unblinking.

But he knew he was lying. He was that man, that hunter, that killer. He had tried to escape his past, but it had caught up to him. He had been living in a false sense of peace, pretending to be something he was not. And now, with this rescue mission, he had a chance to be himself again, to feel alive.

He closed the hidden cell and pushed back the sofa, covering the entrance once again. He left his office and made his way to the Arena. The stench of urine, feces, and decomposing flesh assaulted his nose, and he wrinkled it in disgust. He knew what he would find there - danger, death, and despair.

It was a perfect time to enter the undergrounds. Hoards of competitors and spectators had gathered from all the surrounding areas to attend the Dark Arena season. He could blend in and join. Zola was constantly opening passages and had no time to keep track of the perimeter. Dangerous icy eyes scrutinized the darkness and the figures that lurked in the forest. After a while, Adam spotted a sizable group of armed fellows and followed them. When one separated from the herd, he knocked him out and took his scrawl: Lucas Stonewall, an elf hunter from Salty caves.

"So perfect, the elves are tall and slender; I fit into the legend.

The competitors had their separate sections under the Arena. In this section, they also kept dangerous prisoners.

The place stank of urine, feces, and decomposing flesh. Some of them would be lucky today to end their misery in the Arena or gain their freedom.

Adam marched forward, his face stoic despite the chaos around him. The stench of rotting flesh and excrement lingered in the air, and the flickering torches cast eerie shadows on the walls. He could hear the scuffling of claws and pattering of feet from the shadows, but he did not flinch.

As they walked past the cages, the prisoners reached out, grabbing at their clothes and hair, their eyes wild with hunger and desperation. A gray humanoid creature hissed and bared its long teeth, lashing out at one of the elves in front of him. The man screamed as the creature's sharp teeth dug into his throat.

As the gray skin melted away from her body, the creature's transformation continued, and Adam found himself transfixed by the sight before him. Her naked body glistened in the dim light, with droplets of water still clinging to her skin, as if she had just emerged from a pool.

Her hair, long and golden, hung in wet tendrils around her shoulders, and Adam noticed how it seemed to catch the light in a way that made it shimmer like sunlight on water. Her curves were perfectly formed, and she moved with a grace that was both alluring and dangerous.

The elven men around him were equally transfixed, their eyes wide with both fear and desire as they watched the siren before them. Adam could hear the pounding of their hearts and the ragged breaths that escaped their lips as they stared at her, captivated by her beauty and the power she held over them.

Adam's gaze trailed down the siren's body, taking in the curves of her hips and thighs, the pink bare skin in all places, flushed with blood and ripe. Her body was smooth and supple, glistening with a sheen of sweat that made her appear all the more alluring. He could see the veins beneath her skin, pulsing with an inner vitality that was both enticing and terrifying.

Despite her alluring appearance, Adam knew better than to be taken in by her charms. He remained cold and calculated, his mind focused on the task at hand, and his heart untouched by the siren's seductive power. She licked her lips and winked at them, her voice a velvety purr.

"Come closer, my sunshine prince," she cooed.

Adam snorted, unimpressed. "I will sew your mouth, woman. Stay away from the cages, as I told you, you fools!"

The prison keeper grunted, urging them to move on. As they passed through the dark corridors, the contestants fell one by one, either killed or bewitched by the creatures lurking in the shadows.

Finally, they reached the section designated for them. Adam surveyed the arena, his eyes sharp as he took in the details. The ground was slick with blood, and the air hummed with anticipation.

As the contestants were led to their cells, Adam turned to the keeper. "Tell me, what do they feed them here?"

The keeper grinned, revealing yellowed teeth. "Whatever we can catch. Rats, bugs, and sometimes even each other."

Adam's lip curled in disgust. "And the elf from earlier?"

The keeper shrugged. "He was a trespasser. He should have known better."

Adam's heart did not pound as he watched the keeper walk away. He was a cold-hearted man, and nothing in this hellhole could faze him. He surveyed the creatures in the arena, their grotesque forms illuminated by the flickering torches. He could see the hunger in their eyes, the way they licked their lips in anticipation of their next meal.

He watched as one of the creatures lunged at a contestant, its sharp teeth sinking into flesh. The man screamed as the creature tore off a chunk of his shoulder, blood spraying onto the ground. Adam did not flinch as he watched the scene unfold. This was his world now, and he would do whatever it takes to survive.