City of Towers_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [103]
While Daine didn’t trust the goblin, the previous night had proven that there was danger lurking on the streets of High Walls. He drew his dagger, concealing the dark blade against his forearm. Pierce retrieved his bow from Lei’s pack and put an arrow to string. Lei drew the darkwood staff out of the depths of her pack.
Rhazala led them through a winding labyrinth of alleys. The streets grew narrower and narrower, and there were fewer and fewer bystanders to be seen. Eventually the alley came to a dead end. A steel door was set into the final wall, but there were no signs of any sort of lock or handle. An arcane seal, Daine thought. No mere thief could open this door, for there was no lock to pick. The door was sealed with pure magical energy. Before Daine could say anything, Rhazala barked a short phrase in a harsh, rasping tongue and traced a complex pattern on the front of the door. Sparkling light followed in the wake of her finger, and a moment later the door swung open.
Daine exchanged a glance with Lei. Rhazala had already proven herself to be a talented pickpocket. She seemed to have a gift for sorcery as well. He wondered how old the girl actually was and how she’d developed her skills.
The steel door opened into a small, bare chamber. The only feature was a hatch on the floor. Rhazala lifted this trapdoor, revealing a long tunnel that dropped down into utter darkness. Rungs had been carved into the stone wall; at was impossible to see how far they extended.
“Down!” said Rhazala.
“Wait,” Daine said. “Just because you can see in the dark doesn’t mean the rest of us can. Lei, a little light?”
Lei brushed her fingers across her armor, and the studs began to radiate a golden glow.
“Captain,” Pierce said, studying the passage, “I will be unable to shift position within this tunnel. My presence may be a hindrance.”
He was right. Daine would have a hard time fitting into the tunnel. For Pierce, it would be all but impossible.
“If you need me with you, I could—”
“No, that’s fine,” Daine said. “Stay here. Hold this position until the ninth bell, if you can hear it from here. If we haven’t returned by then, go back to the Manticore.”
Pierce nodded and stepped out into the alley, an arrow to his bowstring and a second tucked between his fingers. He calmly sighted down the alley and waited for an enemy to appear.
“Quickly!” Rhazala hissed. She had already started down the tunnel.
Daine looked at Lei, then back at the tunnel. Sheathing his dagger, he climbed into the tunnel and began his descent. Lei dropped her staff into one of the unnaturally large pockets of her pack and followed close behind.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever.
“Where are we going, Rhazala?” Daine asked.
“Down.”
“I noticed that.”
“Cogs. Sewers. Undercity beneath Sharn.”
“Ah.” Now they were getting somewhere. The Cogs had been mentioned frequently during their earlier travels with Greykell. Many of Sharn’s largest and least attractive industries were located beneath the city. Workhouses, tanneries, and foundries lay buried in the subterranean Cogs. The sewers were even further below, and some said that there were ancient ruins hidden even below the sewers.
“Many passages to the depths were built long ago. Forgotten now, but the quiet folk remember.”
“And would you care to tell me what we’re doing down here?”
“You must see.”
“What must we see?” Lei said from below. “You will see.”
“Oh, I see.”
“No, you will see,” Daine corrected.
“Hush,” Rhazala said. “Many dangers lurk below. No time for laughter.”
They continued the descent in silence.
The stench was appalling. A stream of sewage and wastewater flowed down the center of the tunnel, and the walls were crusted with mold and filth. Lei’s armor was the only source of light, and swarms of insects and other vermin scurried away from the circle of illumination.
“Interesting,” Lei said, examining the design of the roof. “I’ve heard a lot about the