Maxim had always been incredibly efficient, especially when he received instructions from Murphy. This loyal servant always completed his master's orders as quickly as possible.
This time was no different.
Although Murphy had only asked Lady Adele to tell Maxim the previous night to lead the Cadman Self-Rescue Army into the collapsed Blood Eagle Corridor and excavate the buried treasure vault, a fully armed soldier came to report on their progress by dusk the next day.
They had already uncovered one corner of the treasure vault.
Murphy was astonished. Had the work really gone that quickly?
In his memory, the collapse of the entire Sacred Blood Hall had caused the structures deep inside the corridor to cave in as well. The treasure vault was buried in the middle, so it shouldn't have been easy to clear. He'd considered it a victory if they managed to bring it to light within three days.
But after going down to inspect the collapsed Blood Eagle Corridor himself, Murphy realized what was going on.
The damage to the Blood Eagle Corridor wasn't as severe as he'd imagined.
The area leading to the middle of the corridor had been crushed beneath its collapsed ceiling, but the underground cavern that formed the original part of the Blood Eagle Corridor was still structurally sound. Aside from a huge shaft blasted straight up to the surface by the eruption of psionic energy from the Sacred Blood Pool—which had since collapsed—the cavern remained intact.
Maxim and his men had easily re-entered the Blood Eagle Corridor through the underground passage Murphy and the old knight Fenock had taken earlier.
Excavating the treasure vault had been even easier.
To protect the Blood Eagle Clan's wealth and treasures, the vampires had spent four hundred years surrounding the vault with a thick outer