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Chapter 10: Those Condemned Things

The cave was stifling, a dense mausoleum with a fetid stench of decay and overbearing musk. The very air thrummed with unease and pungent rot. Each breath was laborious.

A scream tore through the cavern, slicing the murky atmosphere with visceral urgency. It reverberated against the walls, a symphony of dread that echoed in their stomachs. Hearts pounding, Tallik, Hilda, and Lisa raced toward the cry's source—a young boy's unmistakable wail. Could it be the child Tallik thought was with Eddipus? The thought spurred them onward, gnawing at their minds with each twist and turn. The grotto seemed to tighten its grip around them as if they were venturing deeper into the heart of a slumbering beast.

In the dim green glow of bioluminescent microbes, they groped through slick, damp passageways veined with shadow. The walls were cold and slimy. The relentless drip, drip, drip of water echoed through the tunnels, adding to the ominous ambiance.

With quick steps, Tallik guided the elves through a cramped passage... He stopped, signaling for silence--they froze in statuesque poses, breaths held tight.

The low, menacing growls echoed through the darkness with an unmistakable hunger. Tallik's hand went to his sword, his fingers wrapping around the cool hilt. With slow movements, he edged forward, revealing the source - a cabal of bandits encircling a crude cage made from jagged formations of stalagmites and stalactites. As Tallik and his companions strained to identify the captives trapped within the rocky prison, a ripple of unease twisted through him. This was no ordinary gathering of thieves.

Tallik, with the precision of a Leviamoth, observed the bandits surrounding the cage. His eyes darted from one to another, calculating their strengths and weaknesses, noting their weapons and posture.

Tallik turned to Hilda and Lisa, his eyes narrowed. "We can't let those bandits harm whoever's in there," he whispered. "We have to free them, but we need a plan."

Hilda glanced at Tallik. "Let's create a diversion to draw their attention away from the cage and us," she suggested.

The bandits were none the wiser until Tallik, with an assassin's stealth, instinctively dislodged a pebble from the wall's embrace and sent it spinning towards a rockface.

The stone struck true, creating an echo that ricocheted off the surface and filled the cave with its sound. The bandits froze momentarily; their attention diverted away from the cage as they scanned for potential threats.

Using this distraction to his advantage, Tallik drew his blade - its steel glinting under the gleam of the grotto's microbes.

Simultaneously, Hilda and Lisa stood beside a wall of boulders, delicately tracing their fingertips in the air as they unleashed a slight trimmer in the ground beneath one of the bandits' feet. The unsuspecting ruffian lost his footing and crashed to the ground with a deafening thud.

As they approached, the figures in the cage became distinguishable—a young boy and a woman, flanked by two lizard-folk with shimmering scales. A masculine elven male, formidable if it weren't for his dazed state, sat unmoving and entranced. Each bore the unmistakable mark of a Darkling's hypnotic influence.

Tallik inched towards his unsuspecting quarry, muscles taut for a strike. His breath was a whisper in the heavy air. As Hilda signaled for Lisa to free them from the cage, he narrowed the gap, almost reaching them. A bandit murmured, "I'm starved; we need sustenance."

Tallik exchanged quick glances with Hilda and Lisa. 'Sustenance?'

It was as they had suspected. The group approached further, hexagonal crates now in view, confirming their suspicions. The bandits were Darklings.