Chapter 197 - 192: The Broken Chain
The first thing John did after returning to the ranger station was examine the expedition records.
Not because he expected to find the answer immediately.
He simply wanted to know whether anyone had reported a creature like the one they’d encountered.
Darius spread the guild documents across the table.
"There are records of unusual beasts in the Silverwood."
John leaned over them.
"Anything similar?"
"Not exactly."
Darius pointed to several entries.
"Forest wolves. Great horned boars. Ironback bears. Several species of large cats."
He moved his finger down the page.
"But nothing with horns like the creature we saw."
Sylvara examined the description John had given them.
"Maybe it’s a rare species."
"Possible."
Aerion shook his head.
"If it was native to the forest, hunters would’ve noticed."
John nodded.
"Especially something that large."
Lythriel crossed her arms.
"Then where did it come from?"
Nobody had an answer.
John looked at the broken chain he’d drawn from memory.
"That’s what bothers me."
Darius looked up.
"The chain?"
"Yeah."
"What about it?"
"It wasn’t made by someone who wanted to keep a normal animal."
John paused.
"It was made to restrain something powerful."
---
Darius pulled out another book.
"This might help."
John looked at the cover.
"What’s that?"
"Old regional records."
"You found another book?"
"I spent yesterday in a library."
"Of course you did."
Darius ignored him.
He opened the book and began searching.
"There are records of monster trafficking in this region."
John’s expression changed.
"Monster trafficking?"
"Not officially."
"Obviously."
Darius nodded.
"Some wealthy collectors used to capture rare monsters and magical beasts."
Sylvara frowned.
"Used to?"
"According to the records, the practice was heavily restricted."
John stared at the page.
"But that doesn’t mean it stopped."
"Exactly."
Lythriel looked toward the forest.
"So someone may have captured that creature."
"Or another group did."
John thought for a moment.
"Either way, someone was operating inside the Silverwood."
---
They spent the next hour examining everything they had.
Tracks.
Maps.
Ranger reports.
Guild records.
Nothing immediately connected.
Then John noticed something.
"Wait."
He pointed toward the map.
"This area."
Darius looked.
"What about it?"
John traced a line with his finger.
"The cave we found is here."
"Yes."
"And the old ranger station is here."
Darius nodded.
"There’s a road between them."
"Not anymore."
Darius looked at the map.
John pointed toward several places where the old road had disappeared.
"Look."
"All the old routes avoid this region."
Darius stared.
"They don’t avoid it."
John shook his head.
"They used to pass through."
A silence followed.
The forest hadn’t simply changed recently.
Its paths had changed over time.
And the changes seemed to center around the same region.
The cave.
The strange pond.
The missing stream.
John looked at the map.
"Something has been changing this part of the forest for years."
---
They decided not to explore farther that day.
Instead, John and Darius went back toward the cave.
Not inside.
Just close enough to inspect the surrounding area.
They followed the trail carefully.
This time, John noticed something they had missed earlier.
A faint metallic smell.
He stopped.
"What?"
Darius looked around.
John crouched beside a patch of dirt.
There were tiny fragments embedded in the soil.
Metal.
He picked one up.
It was dark and rusted.
Darius examined it.
"Chain."
John nodded.
"Looks like part of the one around the creature."
"Then it didn’t break there."
"No."
John looked toward the trail.
"Something happened here."
They followed the fragments.
A few meters later, they found another.
Then another.
The pieces formed a trail leading away from the cave.
Darius frowned.
"Someone dragged the chain."
John followed it with his eyes.
"Or the creature broke it while escaping."
That possibility made more sense.
The creature hadn’t been sitting quietly in the cave.
It had escaped from somewhere.
John stood.
"We need to find where."
---
The trail led downhill.
The forest became denser.
Branches scratched against their clothing.
Eventually, John noticed something ahead.
A wooden structure.
At first, he thought it was another ranger station.
Then he realized what it was.
A fence.
Old.
Half collapsed.
But clearly artificial.
Darius stared.
"This isn’t on the map."
John walked closer.
The fence enclosed a large section of forest.
There were several broken posts.
Some had been torn out completely.
John touched one.
Fresh scratches.
"Something broke through here."
Darius looked around.
"Recently?"
"Some of it."
He pointed toward the ground.
"These marks are fresh."
Then they found the first cage.
It was hidden beneath vines.
Iron bars.
Heavy.
Large enough to contain the horned creature.
John stopped.
"That’s not a cage for a normal animal."
Darius’s face became grim.
"No."
They searched the area.
There were more cages.
Some were empty.
Some were destroyed.
One had collapsed completely.
Another had a broken lock.
Then John noticed something that made his stomach tighten.
There were scratches on the inside of the bars.
A lot of them.
He ran his hand over the metal.
"These creatures fought to get out."
Darius nodded.
"Probably."
John looked at the cages.
"How many?"
"At least six."
Sylvara, who had followed them with Lythriel and Aerion, examined the ground.
"There are different tracks."
John looked down.
She was right.
Different sizes.
Different species.
Some belonged to creatures he’d never seen before.
Lythriel’s expression hardened.
"Someone was capturing monsters."
John nodded.
"And keeping them here."
---
They found something else inside the ruined camp.
A stone building.
It was mostly underground.
The entrance had collapsed.
Darius immediately became interested.
"Wait."
John looked at him.
"What?"
Darius pointed.
"Those stones aren’t old."
John examined them.
He was right.
The building looked old because it had been abandoned.
But the construction itself was relatively recent.
Maybe only a few decades.
John looked toward the entrance.
"We should check it."
Lythriel gave him a look.
"You said we weren’t going deeper blindly."
"We aren’t."
John smiled.
"We’re going somewhere someone already built."
"That’s somehow not reassuring."
---
The entrance was partially blocked.
Aerion and John moved the debris aside.
They found a narrow staircase leading underground.
John looked at the others.
"Stay close."
They descended.
The air became colder.
After several minutes, they reached a corridor.
Metal doors lined both sides.
Some were open.
Others were locked.
Darius examined the first door.
"These are holding cells."
John looked inside.
Empty.
The second was empty.
The third had claw marks.
The fourth...
John stopped.
There was blood on the floor.
Old.
Dried.
Sylvara examined it.
"Not human."
John’s expression darkened.
They continued.
Then they found something unexpected.
A room filled with papers.
Records.
John picked one up.
The writing was faded.
But readable.
**Specimen 17 — resistant to magical restraints.**
Another.
**Specimen 21 — aggressive behavior.**
Another.
**Specimen 24 — unsuitable for transport.**
John’s jaw tightened.
"They numbered them."
Lythriel looked sick.
"They weren’t studying them."
"No."
Darius looked through the papers.
"They were collecting them."
John continued reading.
The records described various creatures.
Some were sold.
Others were used for experiments.
Some died.
John’s hand tightened around the paper.
Then he found something different.
A final record.
**Specimen 31 — classified as exceptional.**
Below it was a description.
**Horned beast. High intelligence. Extreme physical strength. Resistant to conventional restraints.**
John stared.
"That’s it."
Darius looked over.
"The creature."
John nodded.
The record continued.
**Containment failure.**
**Specimen escaped into Silverwood.**
**Recovery team dispatched.**
Then the final line:
**Do not pursue without specialized equipment.**
John slowly lowered the paper.
"How long ago?"
Darius checked the date.
"Eight years."
Everyone became silent.
Eight years.
The creature had survived in the forest for eight years.
John thought about its scars.
The broken chain.
The fear in its eyes.
It had been running from humans.
Not monsters.
Humans.
---
Then they heard footsteps.
Everyone froze.
John extinguished the lantern.
The corridor went dark.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Someone was coming down the stairs.
Lythriel quietly drew her weapon.
Aerion positioned himself near the wall.
Darius whispered.
"Someone else is here."
John nodded.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then a man’s voice echoed through the corridor.
"Someone has been here."
Another voice answered.
"Search the rooms."
John looked at Darius.
There were others.
And judging by their voices, they weren’t adventurers.
John raised one finger.
Stay quiet.
The footsteps moved closer.
He could hear several people.
Four.
Maybe five.
Weapons.
Metal armor.
Not a normal patrol.
John glanced toward the dark corridor behind them.
There was another passage.
He pointed.
They moved silently.
One by one, the group slipped into the side corridor.
John was the last.
Before leaving, he looked back.
Two men appeared at the end of the corridor.
One carried a crossbow.
The other held a sword.
The swordsman looked around.
"Someone was here."
The crossbowman nodded.
"Then we need to find them."
John silently closed the door.
His expression became serious.
They had found the people responsible for the cages.
And apparently...
Those people were still operating in the Silverwood.
John looked at Lythriel.
She looked back.
No words were necessary.
They had come here to investigate strange monster activity.
They had just stumbled into something much larger.
And this time, it wasn’t an ancient mystery.
It was something very human.
Something happening **right now**.
John quietly raised his hand.
They moved deeper into the passage.
Whatever happened next, they needed to know one thing first.
Who were these people?
And why were they still capturing monsters?
---
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