We moved quickly, clinging to the rail as we circled around and around, descending into the tunnel below. The dimlim illuminated our feet, but did not pierce the darkness below us. I wondered how far down we were going, as we kept spiraling, step after step. I thought back to the Market. But here, the shaft around us was roughly hewn, first out of compacted dirt and then turning into rock. I wondered how many years of rock and soil buildup we were passing through.
It felt like we had been on the staircase for hours, although I knew it was only probably ten or fifteen minutes, but eventually Yutani stepped off of the bottom stair and made way for the rest of us. I looked up, unable to see the opening above. It was all murky blackness.
The dimlim’s light illuminated the area directly around us, and I saw that there were two shafts, one leading straight ahead, the one behind us. Both were narrow passages, roughly hewn into an oval shape. The floor was rough, although it moved forward at an even grade. The walkway was wide enough for us to travel one at a time, and it occurred to me that if we met anybody coming our way, we were in for a standoff.
I took a deep breath, trying to categorize the scents that I could smell. Dampness, and the pungent scent of mold from freshly turned soil during the spring. We weren’t that far from the lake, but I couldn’t sense the movement of water. These tunnels probably ran straight through the earth down to where they crossed over to Mercer Island, and then across the lake.
“Anything?” Herne asked me, his voice soft and low.
I shook my head, adjusting my voice so that it would not carry. “No, just mold and soil and the dampness that’s already in the air. I don’t smell anything out of place.”
He turned to Yutani. “Hear anything?”
Yutani shook his head as well. “If anybody’s down here, they aren’t in the immediate vicinity. Which is both good and bad. I’d like to get this over with, but at least there’s a chance they won’t have heard us coming.”
“Which tunnel?” Viktor asked.
Herne looked to Yutani for an answer. Yutani closed his eyes as though he were trying to remember something, then pointed to the tunnel directly in front of us.
“This way. Straight ahead will lead us to the area where Kevin took the video. I just needed a moment to get my bearings.”
I knew what he meant. The spiral staircase had turned us around so many times that I wasn’t sure which way we were facing. Herne took the lead, taking the dimlim from Yutani. He pulled out his dagger, and motioned for the rest of us to arm ourselves.
As we crept along, I held my dagger firmly, but made sure I wasn’t clutching it too tightly. In a fight, it was best to keep as relaxed as possible, so that your movements wouldn’t be jerky. That way, if somebody caught you off guard, you wouldn’t be dragged forward if the blade got jammed into something. Or someone.
We moved more swiftly now that we were on relatively level ground. Herne suddenly stopped and, in front of me, Yutani froze. Herne pointed toward the wall to his right and held up the dimlim. Yutani took a step to the left so that Viktor and I could see what Herne was pointing to.
On the wall, spreading out like some amorphous blob, was a mass of sparkling gel. It clung to the wall, and I could see the faintest of movements as it slowly spread out, stretching thinner as it did so. Or maybe, it was actually growing. I had no clue what it was, but Herne seemed wary and so did Yutani. I glanced up at Viktor, who was standing closest to me, and he shook his head.
“Don’t touch it,” he said, whispering in my ear. “That’s a phosphorescent slime. Not only will it give you a severe acid burn, it will then infect you with some pretty horrible diseases. It’s riddled with bacteria. They breed like amoebas, splintering off from each other, which is probably what it’s doing now. Give it a wide berth, and now that we know one’s down here, be on the lookout for more.”
I shuddered. It was beautiful in an eerie way, like a sparkling iridescent gel. But knowing it could kill me seemed to drain away some of the fascination. Yutani had heard Viktor and now he nodded in confirmation. We all pulled to the left after making sure there weren’t any others on the left side of the tunnel, and skirted around it as best as possible. Herne began checking the floor as we went, and I realized that the slimes were probably not confined to the walls. We’d have to be careful with every move we made. It made me wonder just how many other creatures there were that I didn’t know about, and how many we might find down here.
We had gone probably two hundred yards down the tunnel when Herne stopped again, holding up his hand. He pointed forward, and pulled aside so we could see. Ahead, there seemed to be a faint light coming from the left, and I realized there was a branch in the tunnel.
Herne glanced at Yutani, a question in his eyes.
A moment later, Yutani pointed toward the turnoff.
Herne gave him a nod, and once again began to move forward, preparing to turn the corner. I felt my breath quicken, and tried to calm myself. One thing was for sure: this wasn’t a profession for anyone with high blood pressure.
For a moment, I wondered what Angel and Talia were up to, briefly envying their jobs. But this was what I was cut out for. I was born for this sort of work, even if it was a pain in the ass at times. I steadied myself, straightening as Herne neared the turnoff. From here, it was obvious that the tunnel we were entering was wider than the one we had been in, and Herne motioned for Yutani to scoot next to him. We’d swing around going two abreast.
As we rounded the corner, we abruptly found ourselves not in another tunnel, but in a large cavernous chamber. It must have been fifty yards wide, and probably that much and more long, with two exits on the other side, one opposite to us, and one to the right.
A series of sparkling lights circled the ceiling, from what looked like a sea of delicate floating witch balls, all illuminated from within. They were beautiful, and seemed to move on their own, floating softly in what appeared to be a random pattern. I knew they weren’t will-o’-the-wisps, but I wasn’t sure what they were. They seemed alive, and I wondered what kind of magic had created them. They provided enough light for us to see the edges of the cavern.
As I was staring at the lights, Yutani poked my side and nodded to the center of the chamber. On the floor was a large symbol carved into the rock, about three feet in diameter, and painted with what looked like a ruddy brown paint. For a moment, I wondered why they had painted it such an ugly color before I realized that wasn’t paint. It was probably blood.
Herne held his finger up to his lips as we crept further into the chamber. I couldn’t see anybody around. On one hand, I was relieved. On the other, the tension was growing the farther we went.
Yutani stared at the symbol for a moment, then pulled out his phone. He consulted his pictures, and showed them to us. There, from a still taken from Kevin’s video, we saw a group of Fae standing around the same symbol.
“This is where they summoned Kuveo.” He glanced around the chamber, suddenly stiffening. “We’re not alone.”
As he spoke, there was a rustle from the walls as three figures moved forward off of the rock, carrying large swords made of shadow. And they were headed right for us.
Chapter 14
“WHAT THE HELL are those?” I wasn’t worried about being heard now. The jig was up and we were in for a fight.
“I’m not sure,” Herne said, pulling out a second dagger in his other hand. “But I think we’re going to find out.”
Yutani whipped his pistol grip crossbow off his shoulder, where it had been hanging on a sling. Within seconds, he had aimed at one of the shadows and fired. He was fast, faster than I had expected him to be. The arrow drove through the shadow, disrupting for a moment, but the inky darkness reformed immediately as the arrow tip bounced off the wall, falling to the floor.