by F. E. Hubert
for not noticing she’d left the track, but his pounding heart prevented anything more than a grimace.
The next time he did see her stop and move deeper into the shadows. Following her, he almost laughed out loud when he saw what she’d led them to. A steady stream of not so fresh smelling water poured out of the bedrock through a waist-high iron grate.
With a great heave that ripped the seam on one of his sleeves, he tore one side of the roster loose from the stone. The peg holding the top corner in place snapped with a loud Peng! and tumbled out into the dark water.
Dun had to bend double to avoid banging his head against the slime encrusted top of the dank tunnel. The muck reached to his ankles, but the wet glimmer of slime covered the entire surface of the shaft, suggested that it flooded to the top on a regular basis. He hoped that they’d reach the end of it, before someone decided it was time for a flush and quickened his pace.
After a while the darkness brightened. They came out below floor level, inside a basin. A single torch high on the wall lit the chamber. After the darkness of the tunnel it was enough to make both of them blink.
Brickwork edges rose on both sides, reaching almost as high as the top of Kalis’ head. In front of them, a massive slab of stone blocked the way to what Dun guessed was the rest of the basin. A slow ooze of refuse ran out from underneath it and past their feet, into the tunnel.
The smell of waste and refuse felt heavy in his throat and he had to swallow several times before he felt sure he could breathe without gagging. He heard Kalis make a sound of disgust as she padded up to the edge of the basin on their left.
She waited for him to give her a boost. She could probably climb up without much effort, but that would mean dragging her body through the layer of slime that coated the stones almost to the top. Soon they were both standing on what turned out to be a ledge that ran all around the room.
Another pipe, larger than the one they came in through, stuck out of the middle of the opposing wall. The end hung over the basin and a steady stream of the reeking goop filled the basin on this side of the slab.
“Glad they didn’t open this when we were coming up.” Kalis pulled her nose in wrinkles as she leaned her upper body over the edge to look into the reservoir of human waste and filth.
“Well, at least they don’t guard their sewage,” Dun motioned for her to join him. He cracked the plank door and peeked through to the other side. “All clear here. I bet that if we find somewhere with more guards, that’ll be the prison.”
They had to go only one passage up to find three thuggish looking men crossing in front of them. One walked in a limp, a wooden stick replaced the lower half of his left leg.
Plonk, step. Plonk, step.
The one nearest to them hawked and spat out a ball of slime as they passed. It landed almost on top of Dun’s boot.
“Why do we have to guard those bitches? Like it isn’t enough that—” The rest of the spitter’s complaint was lost as they walked on, but the Plonk, step of the one-legged man left a clear trail for them to follow.
“Well, that’s easy.” Kalis grinned.
Dungeons
They followed the guards down the corridors at a distance. They went back down, deeper into the rock of the island. It was damp and chill and now that the gagging smell of the sewer had dissipated, Dun found himself wishing it was still there.
The place smelled like wet rock and age old mould down here. Dungeon smell. Memories of another cellar, miles away and not far enough in the past to be forgotten, tugged at his mind.
“No plumbing for the prisoners I guess.” Kalis whispered under her breath.
She was right. Another unpleasant odour, much like the sewer they crawled through, got stronger as they descended a short flight of steps. Dun sniffed himself to make sure he wasn’t the source of the smell, much to the amusement of Kalis.
“Those guys will never notice us over the smell of their breath.” She said, grinning at him over her shoulder.
Voices came floating back at them from behind a door set at the end of a narrow corridor. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was clear they were getting closer to people.
“That’s them,” She stood next to the opening of the corridor with her head around the corner to listen. She turned back to him, nodding to herself, saw his sceptical frown and nodded with more enthusiasm. “I can hear them.” Dun gestured that he took her word for it and made to lead forward. Kalis tugged his sleeve and slipped in front of him.
“Better if they see me first—”
Dun hauled her back without ceremony.
“So they have a nice clean shot at you? I don’t think so.” He padded down to the door before she could argue or slip past him again.
It turned out the door was in the middle of a corridor, giving them cover for another few metres on the other side, as they stole toward the voices. He could recognize snatches of words and the occasional singing of a Krake accent. He looked back at Kalis and she tilted her head in an I-told-you-so. Now that they could make out different voices, it became clear that two people were doing most of the talking, and not in a friendly fashion.
When they reached the end of the corridor, they could see into a dim room, much like a man-made cavern. It was lined with cages, metal rungs set in squares against the sides of the room. The one against the back wall was the only one he could see that was occupied. The light coming from the torches on the wall gave the people on either side of the bars a ghostly appearance.
Kalis made to push past him again, but he restrained her with a hand on her upper arm, pulling her back as gently as he could.
“They’re hurting them!” Her whisper was loud enough to make him cringe, but the people on the other side of the room continued their shouting, seemingly oblivious to the struggling duo in the doorway.
“Not doing a good job then, by the sound of her,” He nodded to the cage, indicating whoever was involved in the shouting match with the guards. “She’s stripping skin without touching him.” A proud smirk appeared on Kalis’ lips and she nodded that he could let her go.
“That’s Kara.” The smirk turned into a grin.
“I’m surprised they haven’t gagged her.” Dun said with a grin of his own.
“I’d like to see them try,” She was looking over his arm, pointing as she counted. “I bet they haven’t found all of her knives yet.”
“How many?”
“Just the three guards, but there’s only five people inside,” She frowned at him. “Someone’s missing.”
“Well… ” Dun wasn’t sure how he would finish that sentence, but he didn’t have to. Somewhere on their left, invisible from where they stood, a door slammed open. The wood bounced against the stones with a crash. They just had time to duck back far enough in the corridor to hide in the shadow.
Those passing were close enough that Dun could have reached out and grabbed them. They halted a few steps from the cage that held the Krake prisoners.
“Don’t talk to them!” The burly man on the left was better dressed than the others and Dun guessed that he was in charge. “The Walker does not wish it.” He stepped up to the other men, forcing them back with his bulk. “And in case you’ve forgotten,” One of them moved too slow and he jabbed him in the chest with his finger. “His wish is your command, blow brain.”
Dun didn’t know how she’d managed, but when he looked away from the squabbling group, Kalis was already at the cage next to the one holding the Krake. Suppressing some colourful curses, he hurried after her.
For a moment, he thought that she would get into the shadows between the two cages unseen.
“There she is!” A shrill voice drew everyone’s gaze into the cage, to its source. It gave Dun the moment he needed to get to Kalis. By the time all the heads turned back toward the slender girl approaching them, he stepped up next to her. For a moment nobody moved, frozen by surprise. Then the screeching girl inside the cage broke the spell.
“It’s her! It’s her. She’s the—”
A dull slap rang out and the girl thudded to the floor, holding her mouth. The tall women with the braid that had been shouting at the guards before, leaned over her dangerously, but the damage was done.
“Grab her!” The leader pointed at Kalis. His finger trembled and his face turned a deep, unhealthy purple.
Dun drew one of the long knives on his belt.
“Nobody moves,” He pulled Kalis close and put the point of the knife to her throat. “Or you have to explain to your boss why your prize is dead,” He grinned at the flushed leader. “And then to her mother.” He could hear the bulky man swallow with a loud gulp.
Inside the cage, the tall woman stepped up to the bars. She looked at Kalis, who stood calmly in front of Dun. One of the tall woman’s dark eyebrows inched up almost imperceptibly. With a withering glance at Dun that made him feel oddly nervous, she turned back to the guards and impaled the leader with her stare.
“Better keep her alive, sand sack,” She tapped her finger to a metal bar, a soft sound, but it emphasized the threat in her voice.
She shifted her gaze to the woman outside the cage. The men guarding her weren’t paying much attention to her now that Dun and Kalis appeared. It cost them dear.
A sharp kick to the knee on her right and an elbow to her left knocked out the two guards that held her. She grabbed the key ring on the leader’s belt so fast that it was in her hand before he could move to stop