faceless prison

Despite not knowing their outcome Ares and the other two knew their options were slim. They hadn't thought that the light guild would have already arrived and given their numbers there was little they could do to fight back

"At least let us pick." Ares said; a plan forming in his mind. Whilst the map in his mind wasn't able to show him the complete area he knew where he needed to go to get to the stairs; given the comments by the grey face he knew that the danger in that directin was likely to be one of the most fatal. Perhaps these people would be good fodder for him he thought.  

Caesar did consider dictating the tunnel he wanted them to enter but at this point they had no idea which ones would work; his early attempts to figure it out had lost him men and left him clueless. There were still hundreds of tunnels left to consider. Given the fact that Ares was volunteering and wasn't kicking up a fuss he decided not to disagree.

"Choose quickly then." He said somewhat impatiently.

Ares agreed and after glancing at Jason and Sky he walked in the direction of the stairs. From what he consulted on the map this was a straight hallway like tunnel with various alcoves either side all the way until the stairs. The hallway looked quite narrow only a meter or so in width.  

The trio walked in single file towards the tunnel Ares leading the way. When they arrived before the entry a silver circle like door appeared in front of them blocking their way.

"Follow me exactly, do not make a sounds." Ares said before placing his hand against the door.

Caesar had already got his men to try numerous doors in the area and every time, a trap or spell had hit his men. In the best case they were injured badly; worst they were disintegrated. He hadn't counted by he knew probably 50 men were now ashes around the area.  

Given the already bleak outlook he didn't pay much attention to the group as Ares placed his hand against the door; he had already seen the outcome several times.  Unlike the others however the door slowly faded before becoming invisible; the tunnel had opened.  

Caesar now saw that perhaps this group knew where they were going; his lax approach before had now meant that the trio were close to the open door and were rapidly disappearing into the tunnel.  

"STOP THEM NOW." He screamed to the other light mages after a second of hesitation.

A plethora of white magic shot in the direction of Ares and the others. They however had left no hesitation and had slipped into the darkness disappearing into the tunnel.

Upon stepping into the tunnel it was pitch black; it was clear they had gone through a barrier of sorts as nothing was visible. Luckily in Ares mind he had the map. He could still follow the path to the stairs as long as he followed the route. He could feel the hand of Jason behind him placed on his shoulder; he didn't mind this was the only way they would know where to go, he assumed Sky had his hand on Jason's shoulder. Given the large group of light mages behind Ares led quickly in the direction of the stairs taking care to remain silent.

It was only seconds after they stepped into the tunnel that Caesar had charged in following them; he had picked an elite group and there were about 20 of them as they entered. Whilst he was the leader Caesar was around the middle of his group.

When he arrived in the darkness Caesar felt on edge.

"Someone cast a light spell quickly." He ordered the group in front.

"Lux." Someone said at the front.  

There was a flash of light which illuminated the area before it instantly went out. A shrill high pitch scream cut through the air as the area instantly went back to pitch black.  

Everyone inside the tunnel had caught a brief glimpse of the area and had a feeling of absolute terror sink into their bones.

The alcoves that Ares had seen were covered in metal bars what was behind them was what terrified everyone.

The faceless monster Ares had seen on the floor above was not alone. Instead every small alcove had one of the monsters locked behind the bars; in its limbs twisted and its expressionless face staring out at the group. Ares knew that these things were powerful and far beyond their capabilities. He internally prayed that they would not escape their prisons.

Given the scream and what they had seen the light guild had now gone into panic mode. Caesar whilst in charge had now lost control of the group. There were a few shouts before the group all tried to retreat back through the barrier. Unfortunately, the tunnel was incredibly narrow. Upon trying to run in the pitch black the group all fell over each other, shouting loudly as they did. Half of the group managed to retreat back out of the tunnel into the cavern however the rest of them including Caesar were now packed closely together hitting the sides.

"I can't deal with the dark" one of them cried loudly.

"LUX." Another shout was heard. A flash of light again cleared the dark and made the area visible.

This was the biggest mistake that could have been made. This time the group were closely packed and one of them was pressed against the bars of the faceless monster. The flash of light illuminated the face only inches from his. The light again went out immediately as another scream echoed in the tunnel; this time the faceless monster had somehow melted through the bars and was now pressed against the light mage.

Caesar managed to stumble to his feet and fled in the direction of the barrier which was only meters away. He turned back to glance into the dark as another mage screamed.  

"LUX".  

The last thing he saw before exiting the tunnel was a long spindly faceless monster, it was covered in blood and its face was split in two. A mouth full of terrifyingly sharp teeth were glinting and in its hands the body of a light mage a look of pure terror on his face and a huge bite from his midriff. 

Ares hadn't looked after catching the first glimpse, he only continuing to walk quickly in the direction of the stairs. After the third light spell even he knew that there was not a chance of going undetected.

"RUN" He screamed as he sped up; Jason's hand still on his shoulder.