Chapter 304: A Few At A Time
"Donny wake up?" Being shaken awake Donny was excited to find he was still alive. He had been tied enough to think going to sleep was a good idea in a situation like this so he could tell he had been out for a while and still being alive meant they were close to the three day deadline they had been given for rescue.
"What is it?" His eyes were open at this point so when he saw Keel pointing at the barrier they were in he looked and saw a person on the other side. "Do they want something?" This was kind of a dumb question because them being outside of the barrier waiting meant they did but he wanted to know if contact had already been made or not.
"They seem to want to talk. We're guessing they were sent by the other group as a messenger so we think it might be good news." That would make sense if he had slept for as long as he felt he had so he said. "I'll talk to them if you would like." Keel had clearly thought this was a matter he needed to be awake for so he felt this was what Keel wanted.
"No, I just wanted you to have a second barrier ready to activate in case something bad happens. I or anyone else can talk to them." Hearing Keel wanted him to have a barrier ready he quickly made a formation that would be around the strength of the one he used last time before saying. "I'm ready." To Fendis who was the person who was in charge of the barrier while he had been asleep.
Getting a nod from Fendis, Donny watched as the front of the barrier opened slightly to allow them to talk to the person on the other side. "We're asking you all to come back to the main room. Rigbis wants to talk to you." After the messenger said this the barrier closed again and Keel looked at him.
Donny knew Keel wanted to hear what he thought soi he said. "There's a good chance it's the truth." Donny had already started to think the people in the main room were actually the people from the fortress and the timing lined up with when the barrier was supposed to fall so there was a good chance it was good news and Rigbis wanted to get everyone in the fortress ready to move out.
"So you think we should go?" Donny nodded to Keel's question before looking at Fendis. "Go ahead and drop the barrier." He still had his ready to activate so if this was a trap they would be mostly fine. As soon as the barrier was down the guy that had been waiting outside asked. "Have you been able to weed them out already?"
Donny knew what the man was asking so he answered. "No, if there are any they are playing the long game." The man didn't seem surprised at this and said. "Alright let's go in groups then." Donny saw the guy start to pint at people before saying. "You four first."
Donny didn't like this because they still couldn't trust this guy 100% so he said. "I would rather give the orders. Feel free to leave now if you don't feel safe traveling with us." Donny could tell the guy thought about fighting him over this but in the end he said. "Ok, I'll see you there."
Watching the guy walk out of the room Donny called out. "We'll be using the same formation we did last time. I'm sure you remember your group number and position." Once everyone was into their groups Donny switched what he had just said and pointed to group three. "Go look into the hallway."
It wouldn't be fair to use the same group as the ones to check the hallway since it was the most dangerous job so he made the group that had been in the safest position last time do it. Watching them approach the door and peer out. Donny could tell by the way they reacted that they hadn't seen anything that scarred them and asked. "Is it clear?"
"Yes sir." Donny was about to start sending people out when he realized he should probably have Keel look as well. "Keel, would you mind taking a look as well." There was a good chance the people who had just looked could be Demon Worshipers who were lying about how safe the hallway was so he just wanted to make sure.
"No problem." There was a good chance that the hallway was safe so the fact he was asking Keel to do what seemed like something dangerous really showed that he just trusted that Keel would tell the truth. Keel seemed to understand this as well which was why he agreed so easily.
A few seconds after Keel had stuck his head out of the room he said. "I don't see anything. We should probably go ahead and go before they start without us." Donny saw the way Keel's words affected the people and realized they had all just collectively thought the same thing; they were going to be safe soon.
He understood them thinking this with both of the people in charge seeming to think the group in the main room were their comrades but he wasn't going to let them drop their guard just yet. "Everyone please keep an apprehensive attitude. Even if it seems we're almost out of the deep end we can't be swayed so easily."
He tried to keep his words from being harsh so they would crush everyone's hopes since that could be as bad as them dropping their guard. He seemed to have struck the balance he was hoping for because he saw the faces of the people around him harden instead of falling so he started to give orders to the groups to move into the hallway.
"Go out in the same order as last time." This placed group one back in the front which was the worst place to be but their enemies wouldn't be attacking them in the halls if they existed since they would be in the main room so it didn't matter. Once everyone was out of the room he dissipated the barrier formation he had ready and formed the shield formation.
Once it was ready he walked out of the room and took his place at the back of the group who was already slowly moving towards the main room. After a few turns they were to the place where they had been turned away last time. He could hear talking in the line ahead of him but that was all speculation on what was going on so he called out to Keel. "Are you handling this or do you want me to go?"
A second passed before he heard Keel call out. "I'm doing it." Guessing Keel sounded annoyed because he had interrupted whatever was going on at the front Donny just stayed quiet and wanted for them to be let in. A minute or so passed before the group started to move again and Donny was excited to get back to the main group even if there was a slight chance they were Demon Worshippers but after a few steps the group stopped again.
Hearing the people in front of him start to ask questions like "Why did we stop?" and, "What's going on?" Donny waited for Keel to tell them. "We're being let in a few people at a time. They say it's so they can check everyone before they're let in." Donny felt like Keel wanted to add a bit more to the end of what he just said but there was no reason.
He could already see another reason why they would only be let in a few people at a time. It would make killing them much easier. He wanted to ask Keel if the barrier was the type you could see through or not but decided to just go up there and look for himself. "Everyone out of the way."
It was dangerous for him to walk through the group at this time since this would be the last chance for the Demon Worshipers to do anything if the group in the main room was actually able to detect them but he had to take care of whatever was going on at the front of the line before too many people went inside.
Getting to the front was a slow process with him shoving people who had nowhere to go out of the way but he eventually got to the front safely which actually made him worried. If the people hidden amongst them didn't feel pressure to attack him he felt it meant they were slowly being fed into a trap a few people at a time.
Keel seemed surprised to see him emerge out of the crowd next to him and asked. "Are you that impatient to go in?" Donny didn't think this was what Keel was actually thinking but neither of them could say how worried they were out loud without giving away what they were thinking. "I figured you have it handled out here."
Donny really didn't know any other way to make sure it was safe for them to go in so he was going to go next. When he saw the barrier open again he and two other people walked forwards and after a few people stared at him for a few seconds they were waved in. Once he was inside he saw it seemed fine with no obvious problems for them so he realized it was safe and went to look for Rigbis.
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