The moat of the Old Wall was a long-dried-up trench that stretched far into the distance. Standing within, one could see countless bridges linking one side to the other. Some were large and sturdy, built from weathered stone and old brick, while others were makeshift and rotting, little more than weathered planks and rough rope.
The floor of the moat was formed from cracked mud, appearing hard and lifeless, with shallow grooves that suggested that after a heavy rain, a thin stream still formed.
The walls of the trench rose roughly six meters high, and a closer look revealed countless marks left by people who had climbed them over the years.
The official means of descent were the large stone stairs built into the wall at intervals of roughly fifty meters, each broad enough for carts or small teams to pass, but these were often not used. They continued on and on beside the moat, fading into the distance.
-
After leaving the tunnel leading out of the Old Wall, Remel, Elena, and Appal looked around.
Before the steep drop into the moat, there was a small road that ran parallel to the wall, but they did not use it. After seeing their fellow guardsmen already hard at work, without pause, Remel planted one boot on the rock rim of the moat and jumped down first.
She dropped into the empty moat like a falling feather, landed on her toes, then straightened up with a grin as a small wave of dust rolled around her.
Swoosh—! Bang!
Appal crashed into the earth directly behind her, then Elena glided down and used Appal as a cushion.
The moat had once defended the capital's first wall, but now it was dry and decrepit.
Its muddy bed stretched wide and long beneath the crumbling battlements, choked with weeds, scattered rubble, broken carts and lost bones. Moss crawled over ancient stonework, and half-collapsed stairs led into shadowed alcoves that had once been used by sentries as a hiding place.
The sky was starting to darken as the afternoon slowly crept in...
Ahead, torchlight had already started to flicker where the city guard had gathered.
The trio began walking towards them.
The old wall loomed above, and the long moat disappeared into the distance, forming a faint fog.
Remel glanced around.
While catching up with the rest of the team, she muttered, "It's hard to believe this used to be the capital's outer wall!" Appal nodded in agreement. Even he had a hard time believing it, because he couldn't imagine just how small the old city must have been at the time.
"Throughout history, it only failed three times," Elena said with a somewhat distracted tone.
Appal frowned. "Three? Why haven't I heard of this?"
Remel also tilted her head.
"Once by siege from the first wave of magic beasts, once by bribery from a man who wanted to overthrow the Royal Family… and once because the leader of the gate guards ran away with a baker!"
Appal burst out laughing!
"That last one counts? No, wait! I think I heard about that! Wasn't the baker related to the first empress? Could that be related to how they met?!"
Elena didn't answer him, she just hummed noncommittally.
"The historians were angry enough to record it, but who can say what happened so long ago…"
They continued down the moat.
Wind moved through the slits in the broken earth overhead, producing a thin moaning sound.
Appal glanced sideways.
"Pleasant place," he said sarcastically.
Elena took another sip from her drink.
"When I was young, they told a ghost story about this wall," Remel suddenly piped up.
Appal immediately looked interested.
"Did you know, a long time ago, there was actually a rumour that the Old Wall had evolved into an artifact and awoken an artifact spirit?" She nodded her head toward the stone wall above them.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! They even say that on the stormiest of nights, one might even see a ghostly shadow awaiting battle and overlooking the city atop the wall!" Remel scratched her cheek. "There was never any proof of this, but many people still believe in it, despite the city failing to find anything after an investigation."
Appal snorted!
"Ridiculous!"
"It should be true," Elena said calmly from ahead. "The Old Wall does possess all the qualifications needed to become an artifact and birth an artifact spirit. Not only that, but if it really is an artifact, then it's probably an incredibly strong one at that."
Both Remel and Appal looked at her as if she were the real ghost.
-
Soon, they reached the main body of the search team in the moat.
More than thirty guards were spread out around the basin, some stood watch along the rim while walking back and forth, while others worked with more down-to-earth methods, literally. The moat was massive, and there was no lack of debris obstructing one's view, so this couldn't be called overkill.
One of the team leaders approached and saluted Elena's trio upon their arrival.
"Reporting! We've already done an initial sweep, but aside from a few unrelated things, we haven't found any signs of the target so far! Currently, we have started a closer investigation focused on the recent arrivals, but the Old Wall is too chaotic!"
"Anything at all that seems out of place?" Elena asked with a glint in her eye.
"There was a recent disturbance near the southern sewer gate, but it's more likely to be refugees."
Elena nodded, but as she lowered her head, she frowned.
Under her breath, she muttered, "If not here, then it can only be in that place…"
After a short conversation, Aapal and Remel split off toward the entrance of the southern sewers, while Elena moved toward a sealed archway built into the wall of the moat.
-
The mouth leading out of the southern sewers was enormous.
It was a rusted iron gate that stood half-open and blocked a tunnel that was wide enough for three wagons to traverse side by side. Dark water flowed slowly beneath a raised path that followed on both sides of the stagnant stream. The smell alone was enough to drive weaker men backwards, but the strange creaking and unnerving clicks that emanated from its depths were bone-chilling to say the least.
Llynun's sewer system was famous for being excessive.
Built over centuries by a diligent ruler, countless teams of practical engineers and gullible nobles that were terrified of the plague, it formed a second city beneath the first! Storm drains, wide waste channels, smuggling routes, emergency passages, forgotten chambers, lost history, and many 'maintenance roads 'all intertwine below the capital using the sewer system as its foundation.
Some places even had better maps of the undercity than the streets above!
Appal looked ahead with curiosity, while Remel held her nose.
This entrance was one of the largest gates leading into the southern part of the sewers. It was not originally part of the Old Wall, but because of certain reasons, it was connected with the moat.
Appal stood at the threshold and whistled. "You could almost march a small army through this! Isn't it a bit too strange to keep it unguarded like this?"
"Do you really think it's unguarded?" Remel squinted.
Appal crouched near the sewage line.
"Someone has already entered, here, take a look!"
Remel glanced at the footprints, then shook her head slightly, "Those are male feet, not our targets…" The mud had been disturbed recently, and several footprints could be seen, but they were clearly too big and too heavy to belong to the person they were searching for.
Remel peered back into the darkness.
"If that girl came through here, she'd vanish fast. Let's hope she doesn't take that path…"
Appal agreed.
The last thing he wanted to do today was go sewer diving!
"Let's seal it up for now, it should be fine for a few hours..."
Remel agreed immediately.
-
Time continued to pass as the City Guard searched.
Eventually, after getting some help to seal off the entrance to the sewers, Remel and Appal returned.
"Well?" Remel asked, looking at Elena.
"The seal leading towards the old tunnels was untouched, you?" Elena said.
Remel shook her head, "There are no signs that she entered the sewers from here. I had a few people check the smaller exits, but those also had no signs of any recent entry or exit."
Appal folded his arms, but before either could ask more, another officer hurried over and requested Appal's help with some footprint comparison near the third set of stairs.
He sighed, then left.
He looked back, only to grumble at Remel, who was lucky enough to stay by Elenas side.
Remel watched him go before glancing sideways at Elena.
"So why are you really looking for this person?" None of them believed that Elena was looking for their target just because she was a righteous person.
Elena didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she began walking along the moat, and Remel followed from behind.
Since beginning the search, Remel had noticed that Elena had a strange obsession with the information surrounding their target. Even now, she was still focused on re-reading the stack of reports that she had been given before leaving. She had done this over and over again, as if looking for something. Remel didn't know why, but she felt as if their target had a very special background. The investigation told her otherwise, but her instincts as the vice captain of the City Guard were acting up!
After a few moments, Elena spoke up at last…
"Our target is the kind of person who is unlucky in the way some people just seem born to be. If rain fell, her roof leaked. If the food spoiled, it was always her share. She's like a walking jinx, but she's just too naive to realize it." Elena looked back at Remel. "She's that kind of person, the kind that seemed to take on all the world's misfortune, a walking star of disaster!"
Remel's interested grin faded.
Elena continued, "You've heard about her freakish physique, so can you imagine what she would be capable of if she were left unattended? Try to think, what would happen if she were allowed to walk down a path of no return, a path of bloodshed and evil?"
Remel pursed her lips.
"Not only is she just as strong as you think, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that she is many times more dangerous than you can imagine!"
"This…"
Remel didn't know what to say.
Elena turned her head back towards the front.
The sky was beginning to darken.
Elena didn't stop speaking, "That little girl is a beast in the skin of a human, she is almost the definition of a wolf in sheep's clothing, only she lacks the ferocity of a proper wolf!" Her eyes narrowed, seemingly seeing something that had yet to come. "If left unchecked, there is no doubt that she will slowly develop the natural instincts of a predator, but I hope to catch her first, then slowly 'tame' her…"
Remel looked at Elena with a strange gaze.
Elena pursed her lips, not continuing.
She turned her head, seemingly feeling something.
After a pause, she turned around and began returning to the place where the main body of the guard had initially set up. Remel didn't ask, she just followed from behind.
-
The search continued with no results.
Time passed...
Elena and Remel walked nearly the full length of the moat while the surrounding teams checked every alcove, crevice, and debris. Aside from a few small things unrelated to this specific case, they found absolutely nothing, even after a full search!
At last, a few whistles sounded from above…
A runner shouted down from the length of the moat, and soon, Elena learned that there had been movement in another part of the city!
Their target had actually been spotted, which surprised Remel.
She wondered if Elena somehow knew, and that was why she had turned around early.
Following that, the order to quickly pack up arrived.
Remel rolled her small shoulders.
"Finally, finally, we can leave this stinky place!"
Elena looked one last time at the sealed tunnel leading into the depths of the old tunnels, then swept her gaze over the entrance to the southern sewers, and then turned away and followed with Remel.
"Pack up! We're moving out! If we hurry, we might still be able to help!"
* * *