Twenty minutes later we stepped out into the streets. The air was sharp, the king that cuts through cloth and hair, pulling strands across my face as if to remind me the worlds was awake.
The city wore a silence that did not belong to it. It was heavy and unnatural, pressing into the stone and timber. It felt as though the gods themselves were leaning close, watching us dance on their stage.
Far to the east, beyond the high wall, a colossal cloud rose from the Emerald Expanse into the sky, stretching like a mountain in the sky. The Stormvale Meadows were brewing again. I had been unfortunate enough to have seen their storms before. Winds so violent they twisted into devils that tore cities apart, lightning that split the very earth. Against that kind of force, men were no more than reeds in water.
"I know a way to the sewers," Velyan said, her voice cutting through the wind.
The others nodded and fell in behind her. She led us toward a quieter part of the city; a stretch of streets caught between the high district and the wall. The houses here leaned upon each other as if they had forgotten how to stand on their own.
As we walked, we came across three figures, two orcs and a goblin, all children. They crouched over a sewer grate, peering inside until one of the orcs spotted us, her hand shakily clamping down on the other orc's shoulder. The two bolted leaving the goblin child behind, though he looked ready to bolt at the wrong twitch.
Velyan knelt in front of him, her tone gentler than mine ever could have been. "What are you doing here?"
The goblin shifted from foot to foot, glancing between us like a cornered rat. "Our friend… Shantok. She's a kobold. She keeps her coin down there. Said it was safer. She went in two days ago and… she hasn't come back."
Velyan's tone softened even more. "Why is she keeping her coins in the sewers?"
"To hide them," he said quickly. "No one looks down there. Nobody goes in there except her."
"What does she look like?" Velyan asked.
He hesitated before answering. "She has orange scales. She's around my height and she is missing a tooth here." He pointed to his own jaw, bottom right. "And she's… loud. Always loud."
"Was there anything down there with her?" Velyan pressed. "Any rumors of beasts or monsters in there?"
The goblin shook his head. "Not that I know of."
That was enough. I stepped forward, letting my shadow fall over him. His eyes snapped up to me and went wide.
"If you want to hear news about your friend," I said, my voice low, "Take your friends and run to the Vanguard guildhouse. We will be going there after we go through the sewers. But you stay away from these grates. Do you understand?"
The goblin hesitated, chewing at his lip. Then he nodded, sharp and nervous. He cast one last glance at the hole before turning to sprint off, no doubt to fetch the others.
I watched him go, then looked back at the group. "Come on. We are wasting daylight." I motioned out towards the clouds in the distance floating our way. "Let's get back home before it rains."
We pause above the grate the children had previously been peering into. A cold wet stench wafted up and through the rusted bars hailing from stone kept too long in the dark. But rather than the scent of rot, the smell was almost that of stale cleanliness, as if something had been scrubbing where no hands should reach.
Breathing in the sun lit air deeply, I hauled the grate from its mold and began to descend the ladder to the below. The metal was slick, but the descent was short as my boots found the landing and a narrow run of fitted blocks, slick as river rock. A channel of slow water moved beside me, five feet across and the color of old tea. Another path waited on the far side, a perfect mirror of ours, both of them were swallowed by shadow.
One by one, the others followed. Each step made the ladder creak, its echo traveling far down the unseen hall. When Annalise touched down, she thumbed open hood of the lantern at her hip. With a soft click, light spilled out, scattering the dark.
"I'll take point," I said.
Nox dropped lightly beside me, her blades whispering from their sheaths. Velyan checked her crossbow, pulling the string taut as her eyes searched the dark. Annalise adjusted her grip on the lantern, and together we began our descent into the veins of the city.
The work of the place impressed me. Whoever cut these tunnels had a mind for order. Square corridors, right angles, clean joints. Crossings appeared at steady intervals, the mouths of side channels gated with iron teeth gone the color of old blood.
I followed the old advice of my commander as we advanced: keep to the right-hand wall and the maze would show you the solution. At each turn behind me Velyan drew small arrows with charcoal, leaving behind quiet markers to guide us back out.
We walked for ten minutes and the quiet pressed on our chests. Even the water seemed to move without sound. It felt as if the city above had stopped breathing.
There were no traces of the girl. No scuff of small claws on the stone. Just endless, immaculate corridors. Perhaps the boy's fears were wasted, and the girl was gone with the money. Perhaps the worst beast hiding in the sewers would be the stench clawing at our noses.
Only then did the tunnels try to devour me.
Something dropped from the ceiling and struck the side of my head. Pain instantly lanced through my jaw and cheek, white-hot and biting as though dipped in acid. My vision flared white and black.
I did not think. My hand tore at it, fingers burning as they brought down a strip of matter that stretched like molten sugar, hissing where it clung to me. The thing clung tighter around my face, searching for a purchase. I hooked my burning hand beneath an edge and ripped it free, taking skin and stubble with it. I hurled it to the stone.
The sound it made when it landed was obscene, a wet slap, like grease spitting from a pan. I forced my burning eyes open and saw the creature for what it was. No larger than a cat, its body was a trembling pyramid of orange, its glassy skin turning lanternlight into stained shards.
As I backed up and plunged my sizzling fingers into the water channel I saw another drop from the shadowed ceiling toward Annalise.
A bolt whistled through the air, pinning the thing mid-fall. It convulsed as it hit the ground, wrapping itself around the arrow, and the fletching dissolved in a plume of smoke as the head wood began to melt.
"What in the hells are those?" Nox hissed, sword raised.
"Slimes," Velyan replied, smoothly nocking another bolt. "Don't try to cut them clean through, they will split into two. You have to target the core, use fire, or magic."
Nox crouched low, her eyes flicking to the one that had burned me. It oozed toward me hungrily, faster than I would have assumed. A dark energy coiled at her palm, thick as ink, before sparking into a maroon flame. She flicked her wrist, and the flame leapt forward like a whip. It struck the slime, setting its surface alight in a hungry blaze.
The creature boiled, skin blistering under the flame, but it did not dissolve. A hardened membrane formed across its body, holding its shape against the heat.
I growled, stepping forward. My morning star rose, and with a brutal arc I brought it down. The weapon crashed into the slime, scattering it in a wet explosion across the stones.
My face still burned though, steam rolling off it, the pain was gnawing at my nerves. I staggered to the channel and plunged my face into the water, teeth clenched as the sting tried to hold on, before slowly fading.
A hand gripped my collar pulling me free and holding me steady. A cloth was roughly pressed against my face, wiping off the creature's residue. Despite my attempt to pull away, the grip was firm in its purpose. Left in the slime's place was a prickling burn from the rag.
"Hold it there," Velyan said, "It's going to sting like hell, but if I don't do this it's going to get much worse. Nox, can you heal him?"
At the mention of her, Nox stalked over, placing a soft hand upon my cheek. From the tips of her fingers a numbing coolness expanded across my face, followed by an intense tickling itch as my very skin regrew. I gritted my jaw, keeping my eyes locked ahead as I resisted reaching up to test the new skin's touch.
"Thank you." I staid, my gaze flicked across the three women. "You ever seen slimes resist fire like that?"
"Never," Velyan said, her eyes narrowing on the remnants on the ground. "Nor any that keep a shape. Usually, they're nothing more than formless blobs.
I grunted in agreement; these slimes were definitely strange. They were unlike the ones I had faced beyond the wall. I looked around for any more of the anomalies. The stones above us glistened in the lantern light. At two points the gloss was fresh and wet.
"Up there," I said.
"Must have sensed us coming." Annalise chirped. She nudged the one that was burning with her foot, at least what was left of it.
"You think the kid got killed by one of these," Nox asked, prodding the remains with one of her swords.
"Dumbass kids," Velyan muttered darkly, "Why the hells are they doing down here alone."
"It's not their fault," Annalise protested, "They were probably just having fun and got lost. They most likely just don't know the way out."
Velyan and I shared a look, at least she was optimistic.
"I don't think these slimes killed her, there would be bones left over." I said recollecting myself, "We should continue on. Velyan, can you watch the ceiling? That's where they pose the most danger to us."
"Yea, sure I don't mind saving your ass a second time." Velyan snarked off.
"You didn't even-" I stopped myself. I was better than this. I'm not going to feed into her energy. "Let's go."
I set off, leading the way once more, the others falling back into a familiar rhythm, but this time I scanned the ceiling with scrutiny.