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The group formed a tight circle, guns trained in every direction that an attack could come from which was far too many. There were still many small shoot offs from the main tunnel that the group of Templars and two Lycans had formed.

There was only half of them left, the rest had failed to make it to the rendezvous point with the last one to disappear managing to fire off several bursts from their weapons. The gunfire had echoed along with their screams deep into the mine's where it was impossible to tell which direction it was really coming from.

The air, which only circulated due to machines on the surface, was hot and thick with carbon dioxide. It clung to the back of throats, fighting against the force trying to draw it into the lungs. When it was breathed in, it was never enough oxygen, only giving enough for life and nothing more. That made maintaining focus difficult for everyone, even the Lycans were showing signs of lethargy.

Emery had a plan. A very simple plan. Get out.

There was no more splitting up. No more search and destroy. It was just a matter of survival now. Get to the surface where it was safe and then he would gas the mines. They should have gassed it in the first place, but that meant bringing up the necessary supplies on the railroad that should have been closed. That would take time and energy to clear customs and obtain necessary permission. The Vatican didn't like that. Sending in live bodies was risky, but quicker. A mistake.

"Stay close and keep moving," Emery told everyone. He kept his gun trained behind them, his larger size allowing him to safely aim over the heads of others. "We keep heading this way and we'll be out in no time."

"When they drag our bodies out piece by piece," one of the Templars growled, his own gun trained ahead. He looked for sunlight or just any kind of light that wasn't coming from his own, but the consistent darkness grated on his nerves.

"Shut it," Belamine reprimanded the Templar. "We'll make it out alive, just follow the Marshal. She looked up at Emery who gave her a nod in thanks.

Being a Templar wasn't easy, but it hadn't been like this in decades. The current generation had sparred against Lycan Templar, but had never fought for their lives like they had only recently. The didn't know how horrible it was, even the ones that had prior military experience were caught off guard. Emery had seen it in their faces, pale and shell shocked. Moral would drop far before it ever began to rise again.

Right now, Emery had to keep his own people from going nuts and shooting themselves on accident. He did this by keeping them moving. Movement meant progress. They would eventually get out and even at half strength, they had a lot of fire power that any Lycan would struggle to get through. That was another plus.

However losing half of their people was still hanging over their heads. Even the Lycans had lost one of their own and Emery could see that it was affecting them as well. They kept their heads low.

'I think I can smell fresh air.' Hadrian said, lifting his nose up to the air. The recycled and stale air gave way to hints of clean air and freedom. It made him a bit panicky as well. They were so close, yet far from there. He also worried about Curtis. Over the course of the time they had spent together, he had grown accustomed to all of the man's scents. Hadrian could tell when he was happy or sad. He could tell when he was horny or just wanted to cuddle. He was beyond terrified now.

Curtis indeed was beyond terrified. He doubted that he'd be of any use if they were attacked since his hands were shaking so bad. It was a miracle that he could even get his legs to move. Having Hadrian by his side helped and reading the message he got from him did as well. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the cave. Going to the Vatican didn't sound bad at all anymore. Maybe he'd even meet the Pope. For now though, he focused on keeping his feet moving.

Everyone expected an attack at any moment. In fact, the believed it was coming and yet it never did.

Actual sunlight met them as they exited the caves. It was surreal as they stepped out, nearly getting shot by the sentries on the outside. They had heard the gunshots from the missing teams as well and had expected the worst. Orders had been to stay on high alert and to report immediately, so it wasn't long before Reid showed up in person.

"They're definitely down there," Emery reported to his superior. "Lost several men and one of the Lycans. We weren't able to recover the bodies."

Reiss scratched his chin and nodded. "Very well, Marshal." He had hoped that the caves would be empty. If they were, then that would have been that and negotiations with the Russian Lycan pack would have continued. The Vatican desperately wanted them on board to help. The Grand Master was very aware of the issues the Templars were facing with manning and training. They simply weren't ready to face this threat and it wasn't clear if they really ever would be.

"Orders?" Emery asked when he saw Reiss fall into thought.

Reiss snapped back to the real world, leaving his worrying and strategizing for a more convenient and appropriate time. He looked over at the mine and frowned. "We can't just leave them down there and we can't send men in either." The loss of more men was a blow that he knew the Cardinals would not like and he feared that if enough displeasure was focused on him, the Grand Master would take a personal interest.

It wasn't that the Grand Master hadn't taken an interest in what was going on, this event had echoed across the entire Order. He was afraid that the situation had deteriorated enough that the Grand Master would be forced to personally take control. That was never good.

The Grand Master was expected to mediate between the Pope and the Order. The Cardinals technically weren't supposed to have any hand in Templar matters, but did so anyways.

There had only been a handful of times where the Grand Master intervened in person and it was considered a massive dishonor to the Vatican and the Knight's Templar to let that happen. Reiss didn't want to join the short list of those who managed to drag the Grand Master from the Vatican.

Reiss thought hard about what to do next. How to best deal with the situation without further loss of life.

"I want both entrances blown shut for a hundred feet in," Reiss finally said after several moments. "Nothing gets in or out by the time we're done."

It felt like a sound plan.

Less than an hour later, plastic explosives were set up on all of the mine's supports going in for one hundred feet in at both entrances. They were wired so the inner most explosives would go off first and then go out. There were no incidents during the set up which, again, was not what was expecting.

The engineers that were setting the explosives had constantly and nervously glanced into the mine along with their substantial guards. They had their guns trained and ready the entire time and were both relieved and terrified when nothing happened.

Lycans did stalk their prey, but not like this and not the bipedal Lycans. Everything indicates that the strange Lycans attacked without restraint and with no concern for personal safety. Reiss had watched them when they had attacked his position in the train station. If a group of Lycans were cutdown from concentrated fire, those around them didn't deviate to avoid running into the field of fire, they ran right to their deaths. It was more of a swarm than anything else. None of that was here.

What had happened in the caves was more precise, picking off small groups and then backing off once Emery had gotten the survivors together where an attack was much more risky. It hinted at intelligence.

Reiss had not put much thought into the tactics of his enemy. He was a blunt object to be used by the Vatican to get the job done, whether it was to meet with Russian Lycans or to hunt down the enemy. He could be relied on for those tasks, but once the situation got out of hand or complicated, he became less reliable.

Curtis on the other hand, once he had accepted that he wasn't going to die in the next few minutes, had noticed. He had some detective experience from his interactions with some of the detectives at the station who had told him that if he hadn't opted to become a handler, he would have made a decent detective.

"Uhh, sir... knight... lord?" Curtis didn't know what to call Reiss. The idea of Knights Templar seemed medieval to him and he wasn't sure if they used such titles.

Reiss, who had been over watching the placement of the explosives while discussing the recent events with Emery, looked over at the man and raised an eyebrow. "Reiss will do. Too many title beyond what is absolutely necessary becomes too pompous and gets in the way of duties," he explained. "What can I do for you?"

Reiss had intended to have a sit down with the two new faces at some point. He had heard little about the super dog program, but that little bit had piqued his interest. While much of his interest was in Hadrian, Emery had explained that both the man and the dog were a package deal, but not much more last that. Emery wasn't telling everything and if the Marshal wouldn't tell, perhaps the source would.

Curtis was taken back by the friendliness or rather the lack of unfriendliness. "Uhh, wha." He cleared his throat quickly, blushing slightly as he reorganized his thoughts. The second attempt went much better. "I'm guessing it's not common for werewolves or err Lycans don't typically hide away in caves and not come out?"

"Sometimes, yes, but not these ones," Reiss said. "But then again, here we are and there they are, hiding in the ground." Reiss frowned, but only for a moment. "I'm

Surprised you asked. I would expect you and your friend to want to stay back after what I will apologize for, was an unnecessary and forced mission." He did genuinely feel sorry for them. In his eyes, they were civilians, people he was here to protect from the unknown dangers of the world. He had a few things to say to whatever Cardinal had pushed the order to send the two to Siberia. Emery also shared the thought.

"Yes," Curtis nodded. "I've noticed that too. From what I've gathered, we should have been jumped." He was beyond grateful that they hadn't been attacked in those tunnels. "But instead, they backed off once we all got back together. They didn't throw themselves at us, no they only attacked the two groups closest to the far edge of the mine."

Reiss listened intently to the man. He was decided on just how much weight he should put behind his words. An outside thought could bring more light to a situation, but then again, Curtis wasn't a Templar and not experience with Lycans. For now, he would listen and decide after the fact.

"What are you getting at?" Reiss asked urging Chris to share what was obviously an idea.

"I don't think closing the two entrances is going to do anything." He glanced nervously away from the mine entrance and towards the woods. "I think they have another way out already."

It made sense to Curtis. It would explain a lot. The Lycans didn't care about killing the search party, only those that may discover their hidden exit. This was also much like an old case that had happened where a group had broken into a house and set off alarms. They were urged to surrender, but didn't. The police negotiated with a man on the upstairs window who was using a speakerphone. All exits were blocked and eventually, SWAT breached the house only to find that the thieves had duck taped a phone to the megaphone and then dug into the sewers that ran under the neighborhood. They got away when escape was impossible. Curtis believed that the Lycans were doing the same thing, digging out to escape. He shared this too.

"Impressive," Reiss nodded and looked over at Emery who was impressed as well. "You've put a lot of thought into this and I am somewhat inclined to agree with you." With it laid out in front of him, Reiss could see it now and he could see potential in the man who he had previously imagined would have been a drain on resources. "Walk with me."

Curtis did, following the Templar after he dismissed Emery and began to walk along the outer edge of the mine towards the forman's building.

"How good are you with map?" Reiss asked. "And not just the kind you would find at a gas station, but mineral maps and topographical maps."

Curtis had some experience with maps, but nothing that would make him an expert. Not by any means. "Not much," he answered. However, Curtis didn't want to be useless. He understood he would have to be looked after, protected because as much as he trusted Hadrian to do that, the Templars would anyways. He was a drain to them and he didn't like that. He wanted to contribute, even if it was in small ways. "But I'm sure that if I looked over them, I could figure it out."

Reiss smiled. He liked Curtis' attitude. "Good. There should be maps in here. I would like you to go over them and give me an estimate of where you think the Lycans would surface. If you have any questions, I'll be sending a few of my men over to help who have some experience as well." With that, Reiss left to continue his preparations to blow the mine's entrances.

"Alright, Curtis," he said to himself and walked over to a table that was littered with schematics, bills, revenue charts and of course, maps.

Curtis spent the first ten minutes sorting through the mess, tossing aside anything that wasn't related to his work. He then sorted through the maps. At first, they made no sense to him, papers of colors and layers. They looked more like the layout of a fancy birthday cake, but a closer inspection revealed more. It was a density map, a scan of the ground in the surrounding area, showing the density of the ground. He could see more dense iron and granite which was a dark blue and the soft dirt that was yellow. The mine tunnels were white. It was easier than what Curtis previously thought it was going to be. It was not long before he had a solid layout of the different maps.

Hadrian came in shortly after Curtis was happy with what he had.

'What's all of this?' Hadrian asked, padding over to look at the maps. He cocked his head to the side, not knowing what exactly he was looking at.

Curtis grinned, the potential detective in him coming to life. "So I believe that the, uhh, Lycans in the mine's are trying to tunnel out instead of meeting us head on. That is if they hadn't already done so." He pointed at a layout of the mine tunnels. "I don't know exactly where the groups were when we lost contact with them, but I've deduced a few probable areas. The one, Weihoff, called in around here." He pointed at the map, indicating the location. "It was not long after that his group vanished along with one other. So, the Lycans have to be in that area."

Hadrian nodded, still struggling to understand what the other maps meant. 'What about these other maps?" He asked.

Curtis lifted a finger. "Density maps of the area." He pulled one over the map of the mine. "The mine tunnels look random, but actual go around large boulders and areas of hard rock where digging would be difficult, which leads me to my conclusions of locations the Lycans would be able to try and tunnel out." He began to reference the mine map and the density maps, comparing them. "Too dense, too dense, but here, here and here are viable and close to Weihoff's last known location. Nothing but dirt all the way to the surface."

Hadrian understood now. He was impressed with Curtis' sudden shift in demeanor. The timid man had found a calling. The dog felt a swell of pride for Curtis.

However, Curtis frowned. "The issue is, they could still pop up anywhere in nearly a mile radius of each location since they don't have to dig in a straight line or in any one direction."

'You still narrowed it down immensely." Hadrian nuzzled against Curtis. It had felt like an eternity since they had a moment alone together even though it had just been a few days.

Curtis smiled and scratched Hadrian behind the ear. "Yeah. Thanks, bud."

When the Templars that Reiss had promised arrived, they were very pleasantly surprised to see that they weren't needed.

Curtis told them what he had discovered. They did a quick second check and fully agreed with him. They then reported it to Reiss who also shared it with Trevor and Dmitri. Soon after, hunting parties were sent out.

Elsewhere, deep in the halls of the Vatican, Reiss' worries came to fruition.

A scribe scurried down a marble hall, papers in his hands. He adjusted his glasses and took a right turn down another hall that ended in a large set of double doors made of iron.

In front of the door stood two guards. Both wore the armor of the Swiss guard with the bright orange and blue with red crests atop their helmets. One stood with a spear, but also had a large caliber rifle slung along his back. The other was a Lycan. He sat at attention, eyes watching the scribe as he approached.

"Grave news," the scribe stopped in front of the guards. "It requires his attention immediately."

The guards said nothing, nor did they hinder the scribe when he walked past them and pushed open the doors that easily opened on well oiled hinges.

Inside was a grand room that gave a strong resemblance to a medieval courtroom or even a ballroom with a high vaulted ceiling that was covered in murals. The floor was, of course swirling marble with granite and gold inlay. Inside was what could be described as a throne and below that was a comparably small table, but was still large enough to seat twenty people. Around it were two Cardinals in their striking red robes and between them was the Grand Master.

The Grand Master looked up first. The first thing that most would notice was that he did not look European as many would expect. He looked like an American GI from any classic World War Two movie. Square jaw, buzz cut hair, brown eyes and a gaze that could easily stare down anyone from a mile away.

"What is it?" He asked, interrupting the Cardinals who looked annoyed, but remained silent. This was the Grand Master's domain.

"Word from Russia, Grand Master," The scribe scurried across the room, his steps echoing off the walls. "I'll news." He reached into the stack of papers he had and held it out to the Grand Master, who took it.

The Grand Master looked at what was written and then back up to the scone, the Cardinals and then back to the scribe again. "You are dismissed." There was an edge to the man's voice that sent the scribe rushing away.

"What is it?" The Cardinal on the left asked, wanting to know what had been so important as to interrupt his monthly report to the Grand Master.

The Grand Master crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside. "My brothers die in scores as I sit here and do nothing."

"You expect to go into the field?" The Cardinal asked.

"Impossible!" The other burst out and got a glare from the Grand Master. He quieted down. "Your place is here at the Vatican, not out there. You are the voice of the Pope in regards to all Lycan affairs. You are also responsible for his safety if something were to happen. You cannot protect him out there."

"Can't I?" The Grand Master asked. "Sitting here does nothing for the protection of his Holiness."

"And going out there leaves him vulnerable."

"Do you have so little faith in the brace Templar that are hear, just outside that ridiculous door?" The Grand Master asked. "They will protect his Holiness here. I will protect him out there and I will no longer be guilty of inaction while others die." He pushed away from the table, indicating that there was to be no further discussion.