Despite Greyson dispatching the first handler relatively quickly, all it seemed to do was to cause the construct to falter for a fraction of a second as the last remaining handler tried frantically to take full control, forcing the construct to reorient itself and drove it forward into the line of waiting warriors that had already braced for impact.
Greyson turned and signaled to Orynn.
"On the right! Get his hands first if you can't take him down straight away!"
Orynn nodded as he broke away from the construct and out of its reach as he sprinted straight towards the remaining handler.
The handler tried to pull the construct back to cover him and defend from Orynn's incoming assault but it was too slow and in a split second Orynn was there, his claws slicing neatly through his throat as he darted past.
The construct collapsed mid-motion, its limbs folding underneath it as Orynn skidded to a stop.
"Keep moving!" Adam yelled, not wanting to wait for any more surprises to fall on them.
They pushed forward, deeper into the heart of the Lycan Kings castle and as the corridor narrowed again, they realised that the walls were changing slightly.
There was much less stone between latticed grates now and the strange cages were spaced closer together now to the point that it was just a long row of cages.
These cages were different though. The glass was clearer and they could see inside as they passed them. But what they witnessed beyond the glass brought them no peace.
Inside the cages were lycans.
Not just one or two of them, not that it would have made it any better, but there were rows upon rows of them.
Greyson memorised it all as he passed. Some were barely conscious and stared blankly at a fixed point in front of them, some were awake, eyes tracking the line as it moved past them and it took everything that he had in him not to tear the doors from the walls and pull each and every one of them from their prisons.
He wasn't the only one either. He could hear the sharp intakes of breath and muttered curses as the soldiers moved past.
"Keep it quiet," Greyson hissed over his shoulder, "I see them as well as you all do. We have teams on it but we aren't stopping here."
The muttering stopped almost immediately as they pressed forward, but Greyson burned every face that he saw into his memory so that he could make sure that his father answered for this.
A few rows back from the leading soldiers, Felix had noticed that Aoife was a little quieter than she had been. She hadn't said anything, but her breathing changed slightly as soon as they passed the next row of cages. He watched as she paused, then shifted position slightly, moving towards the wall as if it was pulling at her and Orynn who had been a row in front paused with a questioning chirrup as her hand extended outwards towards one of the panels.
Then she froze, her hand stopping only millimeters from touching the panel itself as her face warped into a mask of intense emotion.
Only it wasn't fear, it was recognition.
"No," she gasped as she stared wide eyed and whatever lay beyond.
Instantly Felix and Orynn were at her side.
"Aoife? What is it?" Felix asked carefully as he realised that Adam had noticed the slight holdup..
"Is everything okay back there?" He called as he began to push his way back, leaving Greyson to lead their forces forward.
She didn't answer immediately, as her gaze drifted along the line of cages that lined the corridor before settling back on the one that she had almost touched.
"This lattice," she said cautiously, as if she wasn't sure of what she was saying,"I think I've felt it before."
"Where," Adam asked instantly as he arrived at her side but Aoife only shook her head.
"I don't know," she replied, her eyebrows scrunched into a frown, "But it wasn't like this…not built into a wall."
But they didn't have time to explore what else that she had to say as a fresh wave hit them from ahead.
Two constructs similar to the first lumbered towards them, both of them controlled by handlers that were standing behind embedded barriers in the corridor itself that had small openings cut into them just large enough for hands to command and eyes to see out of.
"Take the Handlers!" Greyson yelled as the soldiers adapted immediately.
Their blades were aimed directly for the wrists and hands as every severed finger gave them an advantage against the construct. If they were wielding spears or glaives, then they were pushed through the gaps at any angle they could manage, aiming directly for their throats.
One of the handlers screamed and pulled back as the other tried to hold control whilst the constructs surged forward regardless.
Greyson rushed forward, stepping straight into the construct's reach and pivoting to slide to the side. With a snarl he plunged his claws straight into the stitching at the hip and twisted, tearing at the stitches and flesh beyond to separate the limb.
Orynn had already moved to its front, crouching briefly before lunging upwards and hooking his talons into the underside of the construct's jaw as he pulled the construct's head downwards, tilting it off balance.
There was no resistance from the construct as it began to fall forward and Orynn quickly pulled himself free. Orynn rolled to the side with a short yelp, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the body as it crashed down onto the floor.
The second construct stumbled, its momentum broken as the remaining handlers lost the ability to coordinate with each other.
Using the opportunity to move through the opening, one of the vanguard broke through and reached into the port, grabbing the handler's hands and yanking them out far enough to cut them off cleanly. The handler screamed and dropped to his knees behind the barrier. Without missing a beat, the soldier sliced his blade through the opening and the screams died to nothing.
As the last remaining handler tried desperately to escape, Greyson arrived in front of him, forcing a blade through the narrow opening meant for eyes and the handler instant went limp on the other side.
Before the second construct has dropped Adam is already relaying orders.
"Keep the line moving!" He hissed into the communication device and not one of them stopped again in front of that line of cages.