Sanctum

The first one to understand that something was very, very wrong was Borlor.

The Dixit blacksmith had been hammering away on one of Sanctum's outer walls, directing the Hopla Magi to place their enchantments at key chokepoints along their perimeter defenses, when he suddenly felt a distinct sense of rumbling from the tunnels leading to the surface.

At first, it seemed just like a series of casual tremors – perhaps from a burrowing Cave Lurker or Umber Stalker they hadn't captured for inclusion in their forces.

But then the rumbling became a constant vibration. Borlor looked at the pools of stagnant water around the outer walls and saw ripples spread across them that brought back sudden, intense flashes of memory.

Memories of the last great battle on the surface. Of Jun'Ei speaking of how humanity would mark this day. He'd watched her image flicker in the puddles the rain made on that day. And on that day, those flickers had signaled one thing.

"They're coming," he said in a hushed whisper. Then, as a few mages rallied around him, he repeated it louder, with conviction: "They're coming."

A few moments passed of silent confusion before he finally regained his senses.

"Battle stations! To your posts!" he shouted. "All able-bodied men and women, to the walls! Magi! Reinforce the outer barrier."

Before he'd even finished his sentence the militia forces had already sprang into action. They'd set up a forward encampment here, complete with a palisade wall that stretched across the entire entrance cavern to Sanctum. The crossbowmen, all armed with Mithril bolts from Ethan's capture of the human mine, were rallying on the palisade, each one of them standing shoulder to shoulder and readying their weapons. At least two hundred men strong. Enough to hold off what was coming even if they couldn't kill them all.

Behind the crossbowmen were the Magi – trained up by the tutors Lamphrey had left behind and bolstered by some of the older kids in Fauna's school. Borlor had been loathe to recruit them. But in the end, it was they who came to him, fire burning brighter than any blacksmith's forge in their eyes, and practically told him they were going to join the fight.

He wasn't about to turn them away. They'd need every able body in Sanctum to face an invasion if – when – it did come. He just didn't know it'd be coming so soon. Before the Archon even made it back…

He directed more militiamen to grab weapons from the racks they'd set up in their camp, and then watched as the Magi split into five teams to strengthen the wavy, purple barrier wall they'd set up beyond the fortifications.

It was a shield strong enough to hold back the most powerful beasts of Sanctum – keeping them out, while allowing the slings and bolts of the militiamen through, and they'd used it to effectively conquer tunnels they'd never been able to open before. Sanctum had grown exponentially in only the last few months. It seemed to Borlor that the Archon's efforts had spurned the Hybrids on. Maybe they finally thought they had a future.

And I'm not about to see that go down the drain, he thought as the vibrations came on again.

"Stay here!" he commanded the Lycae lieutenants. "I have to warn the inner tunnels."

He ran as fast as his little Dixit limbs would carry him, proceeding on all fours after a certain point just so he could carry himself further. The tunnels stretched on, and he past by more and more outposts and bases, until finally he came to Fraxx's station in the Fourth Sector.

The skeevy ratman was already hard at work feeding his perfected toxins into the 'dispersal units' he'd set up around the inner tunnels. These were Magi pairs who stood by at specific stations along the tunnel walls with Wind spells ready to channel. The plan was for them to break the cylindrical containers with Fraxx's poison's within and then direct the toxic air into the tunnels as they sealed closed behind. The Magi were equipped with teleport stones that would take them back into the central tunnel safely. Theoretically, anyway. As Fraxx always loved to point out, when it came to his poisons, everyone was putting their lives at risk.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

And yet, they volunteered anyway.

"Fraxx!" Borlor yelled as he approached the forward station. "Th-they're he-"

"Here already?" the ratman practically giggled. "The Greysss do love to be punctual, don't they?"

"You're having a little too much pre-battle fun, mate," Borlor replied. "The palisade's ready. Get your dispersals prepped while I head towards the monster pens. By the sounds of these vibrations –"

The rumbling came again – louder, this time. And closer.

"…we're gonna need every man we can get."

"Be using the hidden tunnel then, Borlor," Fraxx told him. "Ssssee what our little sssseer thinks."

He nodded at that, saluting the Hopla and Tialax Magi who were stationed as Dispersals beside the ratman. They'd be the greatest defense against human incursion. Nothing could survive Fraxx deadly concoctions. Even Kaedmon himself would choke.

He accessed one of the hidden maintenance tunnels burrowed into the side of Section 1. These tunnels were for quick transportation of materials and personnel only, and as he scurried through it insides, he saw he wasn't the only one moving. Droves of Dixit warriors past him by, nodding in respect to the blacksmith-turned commander of the defense.

And if they were already coming out to join the frontlines, that meant their little trump card was feeling just as tense as he was.

He poked his head out at a juncture between Sections 3 and 4 and scurried out, approaching the wide, cavernous expanse that was the monster pens. Here, their most fearsome tamed beasts – minotaurs, Cavern Lurkers, Crawlers, the Drytchlings, and even a few of the undead Shamblers they'd brought back from the Twilight Sepulchre were waiting for the commands of their Lady. The tiny bunny that was currently giving one particularly buff minotaur a little scratch under his chin.

Mara.

Borlor approached her cautiously, nodding to the pen-guards who were used to be in fear for their lives, believing that one day perhaps the little Hopla's control over the beasts might waver.

And yet, it never had yet.

"Hey, little miss," Borlor said, putting on as brave a voice as he could muster given the circumstances.

As soon as she turned round, her floppy ears drooping down her back, he knew she could see through his charade.

"It's time," she said. "Isn't it, Mr Borlor?"

He nodded. She'd grown up fast in the past month. Already she had the air of mystery that characterized most Magi. Borlor could see her and Miss Lamphrey getting along rather well.

"Are they – your boys – all ready?"

"They aren't all boys, Mr Borlor!" she replied emphatically, with such emotion that her minotaur guard gave Borlor a vindictive glance.

"This is Miss Peregrine. And her two daughters, Rimli, and Brimhilde, are in the next pen."

"And uh, what about that little guy?" Borlor said, pointing to the runt of the monster's litter.

"That's Ethan," Mara said proudly. "He's going to grow up to be just as strong as his mom."

Borlor stifled a chuckle. Even though she was doing a job that none of them could really understand – touching the minds of monsters with her own and building empathy between them – she was still a kid.

Here's hoping you can stay that way for a while longer, little lass.

"You know why I'm here I guess," he said. "It's time to put these brave little warriors to the test. Question is: are they ready?"

To this, Mara didn't reply herself. Instead she looked at the towering form of Miss Peregrine and smiled. Something passed between the two of them – a thought or a command, Borlor didn't know. But the lumbering giant rose up, opened her gargantuan maw, and let out a roar of battle-frenzy that almost knocked the Dixit off his feet.

And in reply, the other monsters in the cavern added their own voices to the battlecry.

"M-message received," Borlor muttered. "I'll get the Drytchlings ready. Remember, the roots go deep in this part of Sanctum, so with their Root March we can get these lads and lassies to Section 3 in a coupla seconds. By then, if the Greys even get that far, they won't know what hi-"

BOOM.

A thunderous din rocked through the tunnels, sending a flurry of debris cascading down to the cavern floor. Miss Peregrine immediately covered Mara on impulse, like a mother protecting her own daughter, and Borlor took the opportunity to dive under her.

When he then looked up, he saw that Mara's face had become twisted.

"Little lass?"

The horror he saw painted on the girl's features should not have belonged to a youth like her.

And the whisper that escaped her lips was spoken with the coldness of a wraith's dying breath:

"…He is here."

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