Without hesitation, Henry sat on the ground and disappeared down a small, dark hole. Unsure of where they were going, Alex hesitantly sat down by the opening as Richard took hold of her hands, easing her down into Henry's waiting arms. The ceiling of the confining space was barely high enough to allow Henry to stand fully erect. And when Richard hopped down, Henry reached up to block the entrance with the metal grate above their heads, hiding them from the outside world.
Chapter 27
Realm of the Dead
The vast chamber was so hollow that Alexandra’s beating heart sounded like a ceremonial drum inside the chapel. Straining her eyes to adjust to the darkness, Alex could finally see they were inside an enormous, brick tunnel. Water surged in the channel which ran parallel to the ledge they were standing on. Even more was rushing from the holes spaced evenly in the pale ceiling, falling as waterfalls. The entire area was damp and smelled of the mildew spreading over the walls and floor.
“What... what is this place?”
“One of Manevia's runoff tunnels. It keeps the rain from flooding the streets.” Richard shrugged and pointed to his left “The catacombs entrance is that way, follow me.”
“Why is the entrance located in a run-off tunnel?”
“The catacombs were built first, way before the war.” Richard kept moving along the narrow ledge. “When the town got larger, they had to build on top of and around the catacombs, so some entrances are now found in unlikely places. Most of these entrances were never used again and have been forgotten with time.”
Richard continued to lead them down the dreary tunnel, moving along the slippery stone. Alex tried not to think about where they were heading, but the fear of the rumors she heard still caused her to be uneasy. The catacombs had been a solitary place no living soul, except for the few chosen ones, ever ventured to. The empire of the dead sounded like a dreadful place, and Alex was dreading seeing it in person. Still, she pressed on, reminding herself why they were there in the first place.
Without warning, Richard stopped, and Alex, who was not paying attention, bumped into him. Grabbing hold of his shirt to keep herself from going into the water in front of her, Alexandra looked to see what caused the sudden halt. She saw the tunnel had cut off, splitting into only two distinct routes, forcing them to make a choice.
“Which way now?” Alex held on to Richard, looking to him for guidance.
“I'm afraid we have to go left, so we need to walk across the channel. It's shallow but long, and the current is fast tonight, which means walk slow and watch where you step.”
Leaving his companions behind, Richard walked across the channel to the other side of the tunnel. Lifting the hem of her dress, Alexandra stepped into the frigid water. The rapid pushed its way past her ankles, causing her to wobble. Steadying her feet, she made it to the other side without falling over, and Henry was not far behind her as Richard gave her a hand up to the bank.
“Come on...” Richard waved his hand for them to follow him “... it's not that much further.”
The group moved along swiftly down the narrow tunnel. Richard was right, they did not have to go far. In no time at all, they found themselves standing in front of a rusty, iron gate leading into pitch-black darkness. Fiddling about in his pocket, Richard pulled out a skeleton key which also seemed to have escaped the guards back at the prison. Placing it inside the lock, the gate unlocked with a clang which echoed down through the darkness.
“Here we are, the catacombs are down past the gate. Just watch your step, it's a bit of a drop from here.”
Climbing up to the lip of the doorway, Richard hopped down to the other side and stretched his hand out to Alex. Taking hold, she raised herself up to the ledge and allowed Richard to take her down. Behind them, Henry hopped down and shut the gate, placing the latch back in place to lock it. The darkness was blinding, the only source of light was coming from the other side of the gate. Reaching up over Alex, Henry pulled a torch off the wall, putting it in front of her face.
“Lady Alexandra, if you may?”
Ignasias!
The torch flickered and sputtered as a flame took hold, igniting the impregnated cloth. Casting an eerie, unnatural glow onto the walls, the blue flames made the area around them take on a daunting aura. Without a second thought, Henry descended into the foreboding abyss before them as he waved for Alex and Richard to follow.
“Careful where you step,” Henry continued down, “these stairs are ancient and not exactly well maintained.”
Walking down one step at a time, Alex could see what he meant. Occasionally, a stone slab would shift under their weight with a crunch or a groan. Most of the stairs were uneven, making it harder to walk without losing your footing. The pale blue hue from the torch barely lit a meter in front of them, and Alex had to keep her hand on the damp wall to prevent herself from falling. As they got closer to the bottom, a slight breeze came up to greet them, carrying with it the smell of mildew and decay that made Alex gag as it wafted up to her nose.
The three of them ended up in a small chamber, made of gray stone, with a magnificent archway in front of them. To the arches side, two torches illuminated the room, one blue and one red. Flanking the entrance were two great statues. One was wearing a cloak over its face while holding a shield. The other had the hood off, revealing its skeletal features, with a sword clutched in one hand. The bony fingers of their free hands stretched out and pointed to a placard above the passage. In bold letters was an inscription: Memento Mori.
“Cheery.” Alex shivered with trepidation as she reread the inscription.
“Ah, yes.” Henry got closer to Alex, placing a warm hand over her shoulder. “There is nothing like a reminder of your own mortality to brighten the mood. Especially given our current circumstances.”
“You are so not helping.” Alex gave Henry a gentle jab with her elbow. “Let me guess, this is the way we have to go.”
“Your assumption would be correct, my lady. Beyond this point lies the empire of the dead, and it is not for the faint of heart.”
“He isn't kidding, the sites beyond the archway are a lot to behold. The ones who get lost in the maze of bones and bodies never escape with their mind intact. But, fortunately for the two of you, I know the catacombs like the back of my hand.”
“I sure hope you're right about that my friend.” Henry passed Richard the torch, taking hold of Alex’s hand instead. “I'm counting on you to get Alexandra out of this unharmed, or else Thomas will have my head for this.”
“I would not lead you here unless I were sure of my abilities to guide you through. Lest you forget, Alex means a lot more to me than she does to you, and I would kill myself if anything were to happen to her. Now, if you would follow me, I believe our time is running short.”
Pointing the torch in his hand forward, Richard walked through the gateway, and Henry followed with Alexandra’s hand still clutched in his grip. Past the arch, they stood in a small corridor, barely able to accommodate two people walking abreast. The blaze of the torch cast a luminous glow onto the walls, revealing them to be hollow chambers stacked three tall. Peering into the alcove closest to her, Alex saw it contained skeletal remains of someone in a black cloak, their hands crossed across their chest.
“Who... who were these people?” she shivered at seeing remains for the first time.
“Noble mages of the past.” Henry gave her hand a reassuring squeeze “I think this one is Sir Benton the Fearless. A great hero before the war began.”
“And yet, they placed him here to rot alongside the others, as if he meant nothing to anyone.”
“This was before cremation became a way of life Alexandra. Back then it was a sign of respect to be buried like this, to live on forever as a hero. Remember, until the war, the catacombs were accessible to everyone.”
“Yeah, and if you think this is bad, just wait until we get to the sections containing the gray’s bones from the time of the war, now that is what
I would call a desecration of remains.”
Stunned, Alexandra did not know what to say. Henry nudged her along to follow Richard who was moving further away from them, and Alex allowed him to pull her along as she continued to catch glimpses of corpses in the alcoves. The catacombs were a twisting maze of chambers and passages, and once in awhile Alex could have sworn, she heard voices calling her from the shadows. Moving deeper into death's kingdom, the hollow chambers disappeared, getting replaced by something far more terrifying.
Creamy bones covered the walls in front of them. Skulls, pelvises, rib cages, and femurs stacked neatly into patterns on the wall. Shallow eye sockets watched the trio as they moved past them, watching their every move. At one point, Alex felt compelled to stop and touch them, as if the person who it belonged to begged her to do so.
Mesmerized by their vacant stare, Alex felt the smooth bone under her fingers and wondered who this person used to be. How did this person die? Was the rest of them stacked somewhere nearby or does their spirit wander around looking for missing parts? The idea that remains of the dead could be so casually treated made her sad and frightened at the same time. Removing her hand from the cream bones, Alexandra moved along, not noticing the shadows on the wall stalking them.
After what seemed like forever, the group stopped in a large chamber decorated with the bones of the dead. Richard proceeded to a stone sarcophagus at the far end of the room and Henry followed behind with Alex trailing back. Handing the torch over to Alex, Richard and Henry heaved back the stone lid, allowing it to fall to the floor. Unsure of what she would find, Alex dared herself to sneak a peek inside. There, a metal ladder descended the side of the coffin into seeming nothingness.
“All right, down we go,” Richard hopped on to the leader. “I'll go first, and you can follow behind me. It may be a bit flooded down there, but I think we can manage.”
Richard took the torch back from Alexandra and climbed down into the abyss. The blue flame vanished from sight as he descended into the darkness, leaving Alex alone with the shadows. Pushing her fear aside, she followed behind Richard, feeling an ominous presence encroaching upon them.
Stepping onto the ladder, Alex climbed down, feeling for the next rung of the ladder as she attempted to navigate in pitch black conditions. She climbed several feet down until without warning, the rungs of the ladder stopped, and she felt water touching her feet.
“Just let go, Alex, it's not that far down.”
Trusting her friend, Alexandra let go of the ladder, only to find herself waist-deep in cold water with a slick film on top. An overwhelming smell of death assaulted her nostrils, and something slimy brushed up against her arm making her flail and scream.
“Don't tell me this is what I think it is?”
“Liquefied remains. This is where the bodies of political prisoners get dumped after the beheading.”
“Gross.” Alex squealed with disgust “I told you not to tell me.”
“Sorry, but you were bound to find out sooner or later.”
With a splash that sent flesh particles flying in Alexandra's direction, Henry landed behind her. Not generally a squeamish person, she shuddered with disgust. If she had not promised Richard they would get through this together, Alex would be out of the chamber in a heartbeat. Swallowing her pride, she shut her eyes and moved forward behind Richard, flesh, and bones crunching under her feet.
“All right let's get a move on you two, it's only a half a mile before we get to the exit.”
“Half a mile too long if you ask me.”
“What's wrong Alexandra, you're not afraid of a few dead bodies, are you?”
“No, but I don't enjoy walking on them all the same.”
“It's easier if you don't think about it,” Henry pushed on behind her, moving the debris with his arms as he moved along. “I know this is not pleasant, but this is the only way to the docks.”
The trio moved along, sloshing past the muck of dead body parts floating around them. Once in a while, something slimy floated past Alexandra's feet, until it finally grabbed hold. Feeling a cold appendage wrap around her leg, she squealed and flailed about, as suckers felt around her flesh. Cosmo popped out of her pocket in time to watch his mistress go under the water with a splash as a panicked Henry and Richard looked on.
In the murky waters, headless bodies and bones floated past Alex as she held her breath, trying to fight whatever had a grip on her. She couldn’t see much, only darkness moving in the gloom, and a set of Prussian blue lights, in the distance. The shadows pulled harder, dragging Alex deeper into a dark void, closer to the glowing orbs. Alex thought she was a goner when the inky darkness suddenly let go, and Henry yanked her above the water.
“Alexandra, are you all right? What happened?”
“I…” Alex gasped for breath, “I don’t know. Something yanked me under.”
“But, there is nothing here.” Richard protested from a distance. “What could it have possibly been?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that it pulled me under until it released me and Henry pulled me up.”
“Well, in that case, best the two of you hurry and get over to me so we can get out of here.”
“Agreed.” Henry pushed Alex forward, staying close to her in case the attacker returned.
Sloshing through the soup of bodies, Alex tried her best to forget about the glowing orbs, but she could not shake the eerie feeling she got from them. Cosmo barked above her head, as he glanced about for what he knew must have been the dark master trying to scare them. Soon, the frigid water rose to Alex’s chest, making her cough as she took in a deep, painful breath. When the water levels crept up her neck, Alexandra could barely get her lungs to work as they constricted from the burning pain of the cold and the numbness in her body.
By some grace of the gods, the water did not rise any further, and the companions made it to the end without another incident. A metal ladder crept along the wall as it did on the other side, leading to a small square opening at the top. Grabbing hold, Richard ascended the rungs while Alex clung to it as if it were a lifesaver. Climbing up the ladder as fast as she could without slipping on its slick surface, Alex climbed through the tiny opening that was barely large enough to let her kneel on all fours.
Crawling along the narrow confines of the shaft, Alex found it challenging to move forward as her dress kept getting caught under her knees tripping her up. Frustrated, she bunched up her skirt the best she could and pushed herself along using only one hand as her knees scraped on the rough stone. The steeper the incline got, the harder it was to move along, and Henry had to help nudge her forward. Eventually, though, the plane evened out, and Alex spotted a light coming from an iron grate upfront.
Leaning his shoulder into the metal bars, Richard pushed the grill out, and it landed on the floor with a loud clang. Squeezing out of the tight hole, Alex found herself in a vast, open space filled with crates, sacks, and barrels. The scent of coffee and rum filled the air, while the large windows lit the area up with the pale light of the moon. Outside the sounds of waves crashing against the stone and the pounding of rain on the cobblestone eased her spirits with their calming rhythm.
“Where are we?”
“Shipyard storehouse,” Henry said matter-of-factly.
Motioning for Richard and Alex to follow along, Henry carefully slid open the high, wood door. Pressing his back against the wall, he peeked out into the streets to see if any guards had followed. Satisfied the coast was clear, Henry opened the door all the way and slipped out, with Alex and Richard not far behind. Cold ocean air hit Alexandra’s face the moment she was outside, and she took in a deep breath, inhaling the fresh scent. The clean, salty air was a welcome change from the musky decay of the catacombs.
Casually, the trio strolled along to the port, keeping their heads down so as not to draw any attention to themselves. Henry picked up the pace once the docks were in sight, and Alex followed suit, grab
bing hold of Richard and pulling him behind her. Gathered there were a handful of resistance members, Isabel, and a handsome young man in a crisp, white military uniform. Spotting them approach, Paul ran up to greet them with a look of relief in his eyes.
“What took you so long? I was beginning to worry the three of you ran into some trouble. Any longer, and we would have gone looking for you.”
“Sorry boys, nothing to worry about,” Henry smirked under his hood, “had to take a bit of a detour, that is all.”
“It's a good thing you showed when you did. My cousin was about getting ready to leave.”
“Right,” the young man in the uniform approached, “my captain is waiting on the ship for you. We need to get a move on as the ship waits for no one.”
“Right then. Paul, give Richard the papers I entrusted you with.”
Reaching into his breast pocket, Paul pulled out a set of folded up parchments and handed them over to Richard. Shaking hands, the two men embraced as they bid each other a farewell. Pointing over to his cousin, Paul walked away from Richard and stood next to Henry who was fishing around his pockets.
“Hand the papers over to the officers at the port once you get in. I have explained everything. They will grant you asylum once you’re there.” Henry tossed Richard a small pouch that jingled as he caught it. “This is a bit of something to start you on your new life in Ashland. Keep out of trouble this time, will you.”
Taking the parchment and money, Richard tucked them away in his waistcoat. Clasping hands the two men came closer and slapped each other's backs.
“Thank you for everything Henry.”
“Don't thank me. If it weren't for Alexandra, you would still be sitting in that prison cell. You have a good friend in her.”
“That I do, that I do,” Richard said with a smile as he turned to Alex and embraced her tightly. “Thank you for having my back again and coming to save me. I know the risk you put yourself at to do this, I won't soon forget what you have done.”
Dark World Genesis Page 27