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After Starcrest and the Komitopis woman had left the caves via the alternate entrance that Lancecrest's people had found, Sicarius turned and started to make his way back through the caves to rejoin the rest of Bocrest's men.
Many of the tunnels that he had used to get in to this part of the caves had been collapsed by Starcrest's attempt to sabotage the mission with blasting sticks earlier, and so he was forced to carefully scout through other areas that had not been explored on the way in, in order to find a way back.
As Sicarius cautiously crossed yet another dark and silent room, the strange alien machine at the far side suddenly sprang to life. Even Sicarius' honed reflexes were not enough to save him. The floor under his feet simply ceased to exist in that instant.
He fell into the void.
Sicarius returned to consciousness.
He remembered falling and falling, and the strange sensation of up and down suddenly shifting around him in a stomach-churning fashion as he fell.
His limbs and body ached. There would surely be bruises, but he couldn't feel any sharper pains of broken bones, despite falling so far.
The air was cool and fresh. He was lying on what felt like short-cropped grass, damp with dew. There were no sounds apart from the gentle rustling of leaves in the light breeze. Clearly, somehow, he was no longer underground. But neither was he outside the caverns in the snow.
After listening for a few more moments, he decided it was safe to open his eyes. Darkness surrounded him, but there was an orange glow of lamplight on the horizon, silhouetting trees and buildings nearby. Overhead, the clear night sky was full of stars.
As part of his training, Sicarius had memorised all the constellations of the night sky. What was visible at what latitude at what time of year, so he could navigate by the stars at night. He looked and looked, but he could find nothing he recognised in this sky. Where was this place?
He sighed to himself. Lying here in the dark was not going to solve the mystery. Don't be distracted. Stranded behind enemy lines? Keep your head down and don't draw attention to yourself. Gather intel so as to be ready to take the chance when it comes.
He got to his feet, and began to explore.