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“Why is it, that no matter where we go, we always seem to be crawling around in some sewer?” he asks.

His laugh echoes back to him. “I don’t know man,” he replies. “Just lucky I guess.”

After crawling for what seems like half a mile, he hears Jiron holler, “I’m through!”

“What’s there?” Aleya asks him.

“I’m in a small room with two feet of water,” he replies. “Might be some kind of drainage system from the looks of it. A set of rungs lead up about twenty feet to what looks like it might be another passage.”

James looks down the drainage tube and sees the back end of Aleya silhouetted by the light from the orb. Another minute of crawling soon has both he and Aleya standing in the room with Jiron, both soaking wet.

The room is about fifteen feet square and slightly taller. Water pours into the room from numerous openings in all the walls, save the one with the rungs leading up. The water itself seems fairly clean.

Aleya checks her bow quickly as Jiron begins ascending the rungs. “Wait here,” he tells them as he climbs up to the passage above. Upon reaching the top, he peers over the edge then turns to them waiting below and says, “Looks like it goes down a ways.”

“Alright,” hollers James, then to Aleya he says, “After you.”

Finding her bow still to be in good shape despite having scraped along the narrow passage as she crawled, she slings it behind her shoulders and grabs one of the rungs. After she climbs up several feet, James follows.

When James crests the top, he glances down the long dark passage that Jiron mentioned. At least this one will enable them to follow it without crawling. Shivering slightly from the chill in the air, he indicates for Jiron to proceed.

Holding the orb in front of him for light, he begins moving down the passage. “Wonder what this place used to be?” he asks.

“Who knows?” replies James. “Could be anything.” Taking a closer look at the walls, he adds, “Whoever built this, made it to last a long time. This stone still looks in good condition.”

“I doubt if anyone’s been down here in a long time,” pipes up Aleya.

“I agree,” says James.

The passage they’ve been following suddenly ends at a stone stairway, spiraling up. Without even pausing, Jiron takes it with the others following close behind.

The stairs circle around twice before ending at another passage similar to the one below running left and right. Jiron glances down both ways then turns back to the others. “Can’t see anything other than corridor either way,” he tells them.

“Take the right,” suggests James.

“Okay,” he replies before stepping out to the right. Moving quickly, it isn’t far before they come to another corridor branching off to the left. “Keep on straight,” he hears James say behind him. Nodding, he continues on past the new corridor. He shines the light from the orb down it but doesn’t see anything of note.

A little further down, the corridor opens up to a square room. It’s a rather bare room, an old tapestry hangs upon one wall but is so faded and tattered by time that whatever it once depicted is now lost forever. On the left side of the room lies the opening of another corridor.

Suddenly, James starts when he sees a pair of red, glowing eyes stare at him from the other corridor. Then the eyes disappear and a rat scurries into the room. His overactive imagination seems to be working in high gear.

Ever since coming here, he’s had a feeling of foreboding, though he can’t quite say why. He doesn’t sense anything magical in nature, no tingling or anything like that, just a feeling of unease, as if this place doesn’t want to be disturbed.

There’s got to be a way out of here, other than the way they had come. Jiron crosses the room to the other corridor and enters. He continues holding the orb in front of him as he moves down the corridor. The only thing they encounter is the occasional rat or other small animal which has made this place their home.

James is somewhat comforted by the fact living things have made their home here. If there was a malignant presence here, nothing living would’ve chosen to