Some trusty friends.... and an Ex....

The next morning, Helena made her way to the gates of the castle. Her father hadn't been happy that she had pushed forward without him, but in the end he couldn't deny that she and Tagryn were right about dealing with the threat. Until peace returned, he would have to take a harder stance and order his people to fight. As she neared the gates, two soldiers fell in step behind her. She didn't even need to look to know who they were. One was Knight Commander Arthur Dell, one of three men that currently held that position. He was of noble blood, and nearly twice Helena's age, but he had been a loyal friend and protector in her youth. Had he not been so noble, he might have been a lover as well. Helena pushed the thoughts of that drunken night when he rejected her aside. Once word went out that she was going into the tunnels, he had made it clear he would be her shield once more.

The other was a scout and friend that had often gone on hunting trips with Helena. Her name was Natalie Higgins. Unlike Arthur, Natalie was born a commoner and had worked hard to be part of the army. She was skilled with a boy and knife and one of the best trackers Helena had ever seen. She and Helena had been inseparable in their teen years as they trained and hunted together. Although she didn't say anything to them, she was glad that they had decided to follow her.

At the gate were even more of her most trusted friends. A few were missing, but that wasn't a surprise given the nature of their mission. She wouldn't hold it against any of them that decided against the expedition. Those that had shown up were a welcome sight. Standing at nearly seven foot tall was a massive Orc by the name of Gorban Thaine. He came from a family of wood cutters before becoming an adventurer. Helena had met him by chance many years ago on one of her hunts with Natalie and Arther. The Knight Commander had at first thought the hulking and scarred Orc was a bandit and the two had briefly fought. Arther was the more skilled, but Gorban's strength had put them on a near equal field in combat. Thankfully Helena had managed to stop the fighting and even convinced Gorban to work with her on a few missions.

Standing next to the Orc, but barely reaching his thigh was Brintley Calter, a Gnome merchant and tinker. She was fidgeting and clearly nervous next to Gorban, but smiled sweetly when she saw Helena. Brintley had supplied Helena with potions and gear for quite some time. She wasn't really a fighter, but she was brave and always willing to lend a hand. On her back was a modified crossbow of her own design. She also wore a belt that held some vials of different colored liquids.

Beside Brintley was another rather small person. Paxia Nash was a Dwarven warrior that had come to Barvel seeking a change from the underground kingdom she was used to. Helena suspected Paxia to be Dwarven nobility, but she had never gotten the full story of the Dwarf's background. Paxia hadn't found a great adventure in Barvel, but she had found love. She had settled down and now was a mother. She waved happily to Helena.

"Aye lassie! I left the kids with my old man's sister for the week so I could come clobber some beasties with you like old times!"

"Glad to have you Paxia," Helena responded with a smile before looking at the last of the gathered warriors with a sigh of disgust. "What are you doing her?"

"Oh darling, you know I couldn't just leave you to deal with those icky tentacles all by yourself. I'm here to offer you my hand and embrace should you need it."

Liam Elderleaf was like most Elves, thin with delicate features. He had a dancer's body and grace, and it would be more appropriate to call him beautiful than handsome. Unlike his race, he was a bit of a sexual deviant. He presented himself more feminine and wore bright colors to attract the eye. He had also slept with more men and women than Helena could count. How he had convinced her to go out with him at one point was still a mystery to her. While she had begrudgingly enjoyed her time with him, he wasn't one to be faithful. The last time she had seen him was when she left him laying in the street with a bloody nose outside of the brothel he had just been spending time in.

"You aren't a fighter Liam. Go home."

"Awww honey, don't be life that! I've learned a thing or two since we last met! Just give me a chance!"

"Aye lass, we can use him as bait," chuckled Paxia, who knew the history between the two of them.

Helena gave another disgusted sigh before agreeing he could come.

"I doubt any more will be joining this expedition, so I will begin going over the plan now. From what we have uncovered, there is at least one Ancient among the beasts. We kill it, and it's children will be much easier to deal with. Tagryn believes they will the weaker ones will lose the will to fight while the stronger ones will try to flee the city. Either way, hunting them will be much easier."

"Any idea where it will be located," asked Arthur

"There was a tomb deep below the city. It was trapped there for nearly three thousand years. Unfortunately we don't have a map us, so we will be pushing in blind, clearing room by room until we find it."

"Will any of those big strong knights you have be helping out?"

"Once we clear a few rooms, soldiers will come in and occupy strategic points to keep the area safe and fewer of the creatures escaping. Brintley, can your family's store help with provisions? I have father's permission to use the whatever funds we need."

"Oh c-certainly. W-we can d-do that. Just h-have one of the q-quartermasters reach out to my m-mom."

Helena nodded and waved one of the nearby guards over. She gave him instructions to pass on to one of the quartermasters and then sent him off before resuming her plans.

"We have a few choices with this next part. Entering the tunnels. Tagryn selected three places he thought would be best for a safe entry. One is one of the drainage tunnels out by the docks. Big enough to let us walk right in and guards patrol the area quite often if we need to send for help. On the other side of town we have the Keller family's mill. They power it with by harnessing a river that runs naturally under the city. So far they haven't been attacked so we could enter through there and find a way to the infested tunnels. The final route would be entering through the prison. The lower level was meant to be a sewage access point, but it was sealed off years ago."

"P-prison sounds s-scary. Between the p-prisoners and the t-tentacles..."

"It would give us a decent fallback point," Arthur noted.

"Sure, but we would have a safer entry at the mill," counter Gorban.

"I say we just go in guns blazing at the docks. Maybe a few of the soldiers on patrol will go with us and we can push in deeper," answered Paxia loudly.

Natalie chuckled and gave Helena a sly look. "Maybe you should just decide? I don't think we will be getting this group to agree on one spot."