The Blood Eagle Corridor lay beneath Blood Eagle Castle in the inner city. It had once been Cadman City's landmark. After four hundred years of continuous additions, the castle—which should have looked like a vampire's fortress—had become a colossal structure more like a church.
Including its lawns, gardens, and annexes, Blood Eagle Castle alone had occupied a fifth of all Cadman City.
But now, there was nothing left.
The astral rift had almost completely swallowed the landmark. Only a bleak layer of rubble remained. The good news was that the stairway leading down to the underground Blood Eagle Corridor was still there, and largely intact.
The bad news was that the violent astral psionic energy still lingering here had yet to dissipate.
By the time Murphy arrived with his little players and the militia, the Witch Hunters had already set fire to the descending stairway, driving out every last remnant of astral shadow.
"There's a nest of astral manticore down there. When the astral rift closed, they didn't get taken back with it. The mother's made a nest here, and with food so plentiful, she may even have laid eggs. Fire won't kill them."
The fully armored old knight wore a full-face bucket helm. His heavy oak armor, made of unusual materials, was covered in religious maxims and runes. It looked incredibly weighty and cool, and immediately caught the little players' attention.
But the old knight's news made Murphy frown.
The young lady beside him, her face hidden beneath a heavy hood, glanced at the still-burning spiral staircase and said quietly,
"This connects to the inner city's sewer system. Setting it on fire won't help. It'll only let the dangerous manticores escape through the tunnels and become another major problem in this disaster zone."
"Then I'm truly worried about the