'Good idea,' said Lebowski. 'Hopefully, the Merlins will be able to lend us their aid.'
Nodding, I gestured to Dawn to follow me and stepped through yet another portal and back into Exeter proper. Hailing a taxi, we set off for our next destination.
'Well, damn that sucks shit,' said Dawn as we looked at the remains of John's living room. It was in worse shape than the bar. We'd had to go through at least five layers of police tape to get into the house. Everywhere were the signs of battle. It was as if a grenade had gone off in every room.
'We can't wait round too long,' whispered Dawn. 'That old biddy's going to be calling the police.'
The old biddy in question was a curtain twitcher in the house opposite John's. She looked like a right Hag but was probably just a bitch who fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down before she landed face first on the ground.
'There's nothing to see anyway. Apart from the obvious. This place has been cleaned. No evidence, bar the obvious. John was here. There was a fight. John is gone.' I sighed.
Things were well and truly getting out of hand. If I was a door supervisor, I'd have been calling upon my conflict management training and passing the baton. Only I wasn't, and there was no one I could pass it in to. Not if I wanted to keep up my good reputation.
In my field of work, reputation was key. Do well, continue to do well, and you continue to make a good living. Cock up, take on jobs that you're unable to complete and have to hand over to others and you'll see your reputation and professional life in the gutter before you realise it.
'Let's do this quickly. Halve the room and have a quick search. We might find something,' I said, mentally dividing the room into two and standing in the rough middle. Dawn placed her back against mine, and then we started searching.
There was a knack to searching. Many people look for things but don't see them, because they're only looking. Whilst we searched, we were seeing the room.
Seeing how it had been and how it now was, we used both mental pictures to see anything that might be of interest. As a result, Dawn's cry of, 'Well, hello you little fucker,' was almost expected.
'What you got?' I asked, turning to where she was triumphantly scooping something off the floor.
'A fachan, Fachan,' she grinned, laughing as I groaned at the pun. 'Poor widdle thing seems to be injured as well.' She prodded the Fae, and it gave a satisfyingly high squeak of pain.
'Where's our friend?' I asked the Fachan. Its reply was somewhat impolite and to the point. Dawn prodded it, cutting off it off in mid-stream. 'Seriously, we're rather worried about him, and we'll do anything it takes to find him. I'll even heal you. Deal?'
It blinked, multi-faceted dragonfly-like eyes in a face that resembled a newborn’s. Then it nodded. 'Stinky Pete, with our help, has taken him, delivered him to my Lord with. Your friend is to play an important part in the freeing of the Hound.'
'Was he hurt in the struggle?' My mouth dried at the thought of a wounded John in the hands of the Fae. They weren't the sort to care about mortals that much and would do only the bare minimum to keep him alive.
'Very much so.' It smiled, baring jagged teeth, then gave a little laugh. I felt something snap deep within me snap at its gloating tone. Before I even knew what I was doing, I snatched the foul thing from Dawn's hand and threw it hard against the nearest wall. It barely had time to give a short scream of fear before the impact smeared its guts against John's very expensive wallpaper.
'Jesus,' gasped Dawn. 'John's going to be well pissed off about his wall.'
'Had to be done. We're leaving. We're going to have call the RD&E on the off chance that he's escaped.' Even as I spoke, I was leaving, casting a Ward so no one would think of entering the house.
‘Thank you for your time,' I said, and then terminated the call. None of the hospitals in the area had any patients with John's name, or matching John's description. 'Bugger.' I arched my back, muscles so tense I was surprised I hadn't pulled them.
'Well, it was a long shot,' said Dawn, rubbing my back in sympathy, fingers probing deep, making me groan with relief as I felt knots come loose I didn't even know I had. 'What's next?'
'Must admit that I'm stumped for ideas right now.' I leaned back in my chair, shifting to find a comfortable position as I gazed around the hotel room we'd booked. It was a twin, unfortunately, but it had an office chair, Wi-Fi, a TV, and a bathroom. Not too shabby for fifty quid a night, including breakfast. There wasn't a chance I was going to risk returning to Crediton until things had died down. It had burned down once, and I'm sure that the Merlins wouldn't be happy if it burned down again. That, and the neighbours would have more than a few questions about the shit that had gone down. Still, nothing a Compulsion or few hundred couldn't cure. I knew for a fact that I was going to face a bit of a dressing down but, thus far, all the evidence pointed to me and Dawn being clear about blame.
'I'm bloody hungry,' Dawn said, almost whining. She was a true trencherman and an absolute legend when it came to the Pizza Hut lunchtime buffet. She had a competition on with a South West Water engineer, which she was winning with a gut-busting eighteen slices in one sitting. Still, she had a point. It had been a long day, and my stomach rumbled at the thought of eating.
Just then, there was a soft knock on the door. Hunger forgotten, we sprang into action. Dawn moved to the partition wall of the bathroom, training her pistol on the door whilst calling up a Shield. I moved forward, staying to the right as much as I could so she had a clear field of fire. I popped up a Shield of my own and got ready with some Lightning. We hadn't put Wards on the door as there was just too much risk of some innocent civilian getting off their tits and trying to get into the wrong room.
Slipping out my mobile, I unlocked it and selected the camera. Placing it over the peephole, I looked at the screen from the side. There was no one there. No matter how I angled the phone, nothing.
'What the fuck?' mouthed Dawn when I glanced back at her. I shrugged. There was another knock. Now that I was closer to the door, I could tell the knock was much lower down.
'Hello?' I asked.
'Message from Lebowski,' came a voice so deep that it seemed to roll through my feet. It too was low down. There was nothing for it, I was going to have to open the door and see just who, or what, was outside.
Slipping the chain, I opened the door, keeping myself shielded by it all the time whilst Dawn kept her pistol trained. Angling my Shield to defend against a low attack, I popped my head around and looked down.
'Miss Doe,' said the Little Man standing in the corridor. He was a true Little Man. Not a dwarf, nor a midget, but a Little Man of Dartmoor. One of the indigenous peoples who were slowly driven from their lands by the much larger and violent homo erectus. 'Might I come in?'
I realised I'd been staring, somewhat rudely, and gestured him in as graciously as I could manage.
'I mean no threat,' he rumbled. 'Please, point the firearm elsewhere.'
'Shit. Sorry, mate,' said a chastised Dawn. At least she wasn't staring like I had been.
I closed the door gently, keeping my Shield up. After the last few day's events, I was far less trusting of strangers than I had ever been.
'You said you had a message?'
'Indeed. Lebowski has heard about the issue regarding your friend. She sends her condolences, and that Stinky Pete has been seen.'
'Jesus, that piece of shit has a lot to answer for!' I said before I could stop myself.
'Yes. Well, it appears that he has now gone to ground. However, an acquaintance reports he was saying how, and this is a direct quote so please take no offence, ‘Fixed the bitches' handler.’'
My legs turned to jelly. I'm used to having friends die. It's part and parcel of the job. But it hits me every time. Some harden themselves, or shut themselves off from others entirely, but it's just not in my nature. John was a dear friend, and the idea that a scum-sucking piece of shit like Stinky Pete had murdered him made me want to vomi
t.
Dawn sobbed, clapping a hand over her mouth to stop herself from bursting into tears.
'Truly, I am sorry to cause you so much upset. However, we have been given an idea as to where the miscreant has placed himself. The UnderCity. It's said that he has friends down there who have offered him sanctuary.'
A fire burned in my stomach, my whole body feeling light as he spoke. No matter how dangerous the UnderCity was, I was going to track Stinky Pete down and burn him from the face of the earth.
'My task is done. I require payment.' He held out a hand, palm up.
'Of course.' It was an old tradition. Information freely given meant that others could be indebted to you and called upon to provide favours later. Payment ensured there was no such obligation. Dipping a hand into a secret pocket on my jeans, I pulled out a golden shilling and placed it carefully into his hand.
'It was a pleasure meeting legends such as yourselves.' Tugging his forelock, he let himself out.
'Right, put your worst clothes on, Dawn, we're going underground.'
The UnderCity was not one of my favourite places. It was, in a lot of places, a nightmare rendition of the city above it. Everything and anything illicit could be found there.
It was Knockturn Alley on steroids. Fancy a bit of human flesh? How much? Want to buy a slave or three, certainly, madam. Any normal human being would be dead within minutes of entering, if they weren't driven mad beforehand. And if they happened to meet their doppelgänger, they'd wish for death as they were consumed from the soul out.
Yeah, when I say that UnderCity was a nightmare, I mean it. There are some Mundane people who have a Magical twin living right beneath their feet. Everything that they do, their doppelgänger is forced to mimic. And the doppelgängers know it.
Imagine that. Forced to live a life that's not theirs. Strangely, though, Magical folk don't have a doppelgänger. I'm sure there's a book somewhere in a dark corner of a dark library that explains why, but I don't personally care enough to bother looking. Most Magical folk haven't either, it's just a fact of life for us. Gravity exists, so do doppelgängers.
And whilst the doppelgängers live their lives, Magical creatures of all sorts go about theirs. It was, if you had the right connections, the perfect place to go hide. I just never thought Stinky Pete would have had those connections.
'I'm shitting myself,' Dawn whispered as we made our way through the ancient sewers under Exeter, taking turns no one knew existed, following passages long believed to have been sealed, gradually working our way lower and lower, the weight of the earth pressing down upon us. 'Can't we just wait for him to come out?'
I bit my lip, holding back a, ‘Same here,’ knowing that wasn't what she needed to hear at this moment. I reached out and grabbed her hand. 'Say nothing, keep your eyes down unless addressed directly. If they speak to you directly, look at them, but just past their ear. Do not meet their eyes, Rock Lords view direct eye contact as a challenge.'
'Right, okay. Look down. Say nowt. Stare past their ear.' Her voice trembled with each word. Fear was contagious. Fear was one hundred percent deadly in the UnderCity.
'Concentrate on your breathing, keep it nice and slow. If you've got any chill pills, start popping them.' It was a shared joke. Dawn knew more than others just how badly drugs and Magic mixed. After that incident, she'd completely sworn off any recreational use, much to my relief.
'Right. No speaking, no staring, slow breaths. I need a piss.'
I bit back a sigh. I knew it was a lot to ask of an apprentice, especially one not brought up in the Magical world. Especially one that you care about. Every time I put her in danger, my heart felt like it would break, but that was the cost of having an apprentice such as her, and it was a price worth paying as I couldn't—wouldn't—trust someone else to give her the skills that she needed to survive.
'There's an alcove back there. I've used it before myself,' I said as I pointed back down the corridor. She gave me a choppy nod and made her way back up the corridor.
To gain permission to enter the UnderCity, we needed a token that would open the Wards. Otherwise we'd be wandering through the tunnels and never get there.
I'd brought payment with me. Hidden under my coat so Dawn wouldn't see it. She was a soft-hearted soul, and I thought it best to keep things under wraps until the deed was near as done.
'Bloody air catches right in my throat,' she muttered as we cut down yet another tunnel. I was using the Sight, following the Sigils that only those with the ability could see. The Magic worked upon the tunnels was breath-taking in its simplicity. Every turn seemed to be upon itself, but we kept on walking, kept on descending, minute after minute.
'I'll get us a drink when we're in the UnderCity proper. I'm just as parched, so not much longer. The Sigils say five more turns and a set of steps.'
And so it was. The tunnels were much smoother here, looking more like they'd melted than been shaped by any hand.
'What the hell? These rocks look like they've been melted,' whispered Dawn.
'That's because they have. Rock Lords shape the rock around them by using their voices. They're like living microwaves.'
'That is,' a deep voice interrupted me, making us both jump, 'both an accurate and insulting description.'
The ground started to tremble, the walls about us showering dust and pebbles down in a gentle rain that pattered onto our heads. Then a shape began to form, anthropomorphic, but so huge that it filled the entire tunnel.
'Have you the tribute?' It sounded as if it was chewing rocks every word it spoke.
Shit, I thought as Dawn's head snapped in my direction. This wasn't going to be a good discussion later.
'Well?' It asked as I paused for too long. 'Do you have the tribute?'
'Yes, for passage in and out of the UnderCity.' As I spoke, I reached into my jacket pocket, the one with the Sigil of Holding, and gently pulled out a puppy.
'What the fuck are you doing?' gasped Dawn as I held out the squirming bundle of love.
'Tribute, it's fine.'
The Rock Lord made cooing noises of the sort you'd never expect a creature made from rock to make. Gently, it took the puppy, cradling it in its arms, tickling its belly with a finger as large as three of mine.
'Tribute accepted. You may pass,' it said, somehow stepping aside so we could pass, all the time cooing and making baby speak at the puppy.
'Wait, what?' I placed a hand on Dawn's arm, eyes pleading with her to keep just shut up and talk about it later. Fortunately, she did, but her face more than told me just how much shit I was in when we finally got back home. Holding onto her arm, I led her past the Rock Lord and into the final tunnel.
It took another fifteen minutes of walking, and even some climbing to reach the final turn before the entrance to the UnderCity.
'Remember everything I've said, and try not to gawp. The sight of the UnderCity can be a bit…overwhelming at times.' I reached out and squeezed her arm, trying to smile reassuringly. I'm not sure I succeeded as it felt as though I was snarling in tiger form.
She gave herself a shake, rolled her shoulders then cocked her head and smiled at me. 'I'm fine. Shall we?' And with that, we stepped around the corner.
'What the fuck?' she gasped as the UnderCity of Exeter revealed itself. Ancient walls, built by the Romans nearly two thousand years ago, stood proudly, medieval additions sprinkled along the wall. A great medieval gate, like the one that had once stood at South Street, guarded the entrance to the city. Even outside the walls, the hodgepodge of buildings from all ages clearly visible as the more modern rose above it.
The cavern the city was in stretched further than the eye could see in all directions, and a Magical sun hung in the sky casting light and heat just as well as the real sun might have.
'Close your jaw, darling. You don't want to look too much like a grockle,' I chuckled, unable to help myself at the look on Dawn's face.
She did so with a clack. 'Where's the rest of the city then
?' she asked, still staring at what was essentially South Street. The city had grown well beyond the walls over the centuries, so it was a fair question.
'Turn around, babes.'
The reaction was priceless. First, she gasped. Second, she clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wider than I'd ever seen them. I turned, as well, to look over the rest of the city behind us, the corridor gone.
'We're in another pocket. Don't bother asking how that works down here, and how the weight of the earth doesn't come crashing down upon us. It just does, and it just doesn't, if you follow me. Anytime we want to leave, we just think of the corridor and it will appear wherever we are. Like this.' I thought of the corridor, and it appeared once more.
'Now, we've dawdled enough. Stinky won't be in the outer city, he'll want to be behind the walls, where he'll think it's safer.' I smiled as I said that.
With all that he'd said and done, nowhere was going to be safe for him. I was going to track him down and make him pay for everything we'd gone through over the last couple of days, and I was going to make him pay in blood.
Dawn looked over me, studying me, 'You're not going to kill him before we have a chance to speak to him. Or hurt him so badly we can't speak to him, are you?'
She knew me too well. My blood was up, and when that happened, I kinda turned into Dirty Harriet. 'No. I'll hurt him badly enough that he'll tell us everything we want in exchange for healing. Then I'll kill him.'
A smile split her face. 'Oh, good plan.'
That settled, I started to walk towards the city gates, trying not to stare at every dark recess.
Look like a victim, become a victim, I thought. Despite that, I scanned everywhere I could without having to move my head too much. It was market day, which meant that a lot of creatures who wouldn't normally crawl out from their holes were lining up to get into the city. The noise was tolerable. The stench made my gorge rise. But, of course, puking everywhere would mark us out.
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