Frei climbed down, his body pressed against the remains of a steel ladder, he was not sure if he should use it to make the climb easier or keep away from its rusted bars. It looked like it would fall apart under his weight the moment he would shift his full weight onto it. He sighed and continued to grip the wet rock with his claw-like nails instead, it was not like using the ladder was a necessity.

  When he finally reached the bottom of the vertical shaft, he jumped down the last two meters and looked around with his nocturnal vision. There was no one around except for two old skeletons on the ground that were slowly turning into dust. No one seemed bold or reckless enough to climb down without proper equipment and Frei was left alone in the spooky darkness of the abandoned mine's depth.

  The darkness had no effect on him, because his vision was still almost perfect, what unnerved him to no end was the absolute silence that magnified every sound he made, his every move.

"The air is stale, this will be yet another dead end." Frei frowned and randomly chose a direction. He had been exploring the abandoned mine that hosted the slums for some time. The place was so big that they had decided to separate to cover more space. Nitarja was taking care of another part of the forgotten damp tunnels.

"Ah, this again. Another long night with no one around apart from me." Frei crouched and his finger touched a green florescent fungus on one of the walls. The local dwarves called it The Fools End, it seemed to grow in old damp mines like this part of the slums and was bad for health, the miners that faced prolonged exposure often falling ill with a nasty internal disease that was similar to cancer, but was in fact fungus.

Of course, Frei had nothing to fear given what he was. He just poked the fungus and laughed when green spores created a cloud of fine dust that slowly drifted through the air.

  His laugh had ceased when he spotted a more solid piece of the fungus falling on him from above. Not even looking up, he instinctively dodged to the side and had been greeted by a loud splash as something squishy fell on the rock next to him. He overcame his urge to hold his nose in disgust and quickly distanced himself from the moving blob of fungus even more. For him, the sticky monster was more unpleasant than dangerous, because its toxicity did not work on him well, he simply unleashed a few fire balls and burned the slowly moving monster to ashes.

  It was not his first nor the last encounter in the tunnels, the monster spawning mechanic worked everywhere and as soon as the tunnels had been designated as abandoned and covered in moss, that particular environment seemed to generate what it should, repulsive fungal monsters. Not shaken by the experience, he overstepped the ashes and continued forward as if nothing happened.

  He explored both ends of the tunnel and as he had anticipated, he had not encountered any breach that would lead further into the dwarven city, nor an end that would exit the mountain, enabling them to return to the surface.

"Looks like we will be stuck here for some time." Frei scratched the rock at the dead end with his claws, his anger surfacing for a second before he turned around and walked back to meet with Nitarja at the gate and shared with her today's progress.

  When he returned to the upper level through the long vertical access tunnel, his body stiffened and he instinctively looked at a dark corner where there was blood. Blood that had not been there when he had climbed down. A second later, he spotted two dwarves that emerged from their hiding place when they realized that they had been discovered.

"You are quite good, want some gold?" The pair of ruffians was surprised by his high awareness.

"Gold? Fine, give it to me, but no strings attached right?" Frei joked while stretching out his hand without hesitation.

"What a bold guy!" The dwarf laughed, infecting his accomplice with his mood, yet their mood quickly turned serious again. "Listen boy, we can use a good scout to search for some irregularities in remote places. You look like a flexible fellow that is not afraid of the dark."

The dwarf inched closer to him, his smile completely disappearing from his face.

"I know that you need the money and to be fair, Jarton is not one to be refused when asking." The second one silently moved to stand behind Frei's back, obviously ready to provide further motivation if necessary.

"No need to be rash guys, I think we can agree on a solution." Frei gave the dwarf in front of him a fake smile.

  Half minute later, a loud thud echoed from the bottom of the deep tunnel followed by another one a second later. Frei turned his back to the deep shaft and continued in his way as if nothing happened while licking his right hand that kept distracting him with its smell. When he licked his limb clean, he sped up determined to not leave Nitarja waiting, his quick steps resonating through the bare walls of stone.

  After many twists and turns, Frei could finally spot some loners here and there and even small groups of tattered beggars. No one wanted to wander too far away from other inhabitants and meet a monster, but at the same time they tried to stay away from the local gangs and bullies, leaving most of the ordinary people torn between escaping into the dark to a remote place and keeping close to the armed thugs that were able to deal with the inhuman threats lurking in the deep tunnels.

  Frei continued forth and soon saw the familiar figure waiting for him near one of the gates that barred the way that led further into the city.

"Ni, how it went?" Frei smiled at his silver-haired fox and was greeted in a similar manner.

"Boring as always." Her expression in contrast with her words. It was apparent that she was glad to see him after hours of exploration. "More stupid monsters and endless tunnels. We were really unlucky to get stuck here."

Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from the direction of the gate and the both of them turned their heads to see what was happening.

  The gate that had never fully opened creaked and its huge metallic bars began to lift, a squad of dwarven soldiers emerging out of it. A burly sergeant at the front roared the moment he saw some more influential people of the slums standing near the shabby square in front of the gate.

"Assemble here in ten minutes, I do not have all day!" The officer of the dwarven army shouted and stopped, pleased by the commotion his appearance caused. There were all kinds of lowlife bowing to him and the people he expected to act hurriedly ran away to fetch their gang leaders.

  Frei looked at Nitarja with a question in his eyes, but they did not talk in order to avoid trouble and simply gathered near all the others that began to form multiple lines in front of the soldiers, as if to try mimicking the army. The dwarf in glamorous armor did not waste his breath on them and kept waiting for the unofficial leaders of the slums that were well known to the soldiers stationed at the gate.

  Not taking too long, a tattooed dwarf with a fiery long beard appeared and hurried towards the gathering at the gate, multiple armed dwarves following close behind him, trying to look bossy and tough, but they deflated like balloons the moment they saw the army assembled at the dusty square. The bearded boss bowed to the officer like a trader that had met nobility for the first time and with delay decided to hold a festival in boot-licking.

  Standing relatively close, Frei would be able to hear him, but he did not bother, disgusted by the dwarf's cheap attitude. He focused only on the words of the officer that followed shortly.

"Listen maggots, there is too many bodies as of late. We cannot let a murderer to walk among the fair citizens of our city. It means that from now on, Jarton here will lead an investigation to root out the criminals that disturb the laws and order. You will cooperate, those who will not shall be arrested or exiled." The dwarf paused before saying the last word with a special diction to let even the most stupid know that exile certainly did not mean freedom, but something much more sinister.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Great, I see that you all understand. Jarton, I wish you luck and hope that everything will be solved without a hitch." The officer looked at the gang leader and did not bother to wait for his babbling. The soldiers left as swiftly as they had entered the slums, clearly not eager to stay at the filthy place a second longer.

  The moment that the massive gate slammed against the rock, Jarton's gang members grew ten centimeters each and their domineering attitude returned, with their boss starting a speech that focused more on reinforcing his ago than trying to solve the murder. Frei did not want to bother with the inflated dwarf and tugged Nitarja's sleeve to get out of the square. No one else dared to do what they did, but the number of vagabonds and beggars here was so high that the members of the gang were unable to monitor them all.

"It has to be serious if they have decided to act." Nitarja said when they were a distance away from the square.

"Maybe, but it is not our problem." Frei shrugged his shoulders, knowing that the action was probably motivated by the fact that the corrupted officials of the city were losing their cheap labor. However, they could not need anyone sniffing around their business, meaning that their actions were bound to be only half-measures aimed to patch the problem without alerting the true movers and shakers of the city.

"We have some time left, lets take care of another sector." Frei took out a crude map from under his clothes that had been drawn by them based on various rumors and clues. It was incredibly inaccurate, but as they scouted the tunnels it started to look like a real map.

"I have to redraw it again soon. I think that The Half-Faced Fairy will be my destination." Frei chuckled and Nitarja looked over his shoulder.

"Fine, I will take The Wailing Cavern." She pouted a little, annoyed that Frei picked a better sounding location.

"Good luck, let's see you in the evening." Frei bit her ear lightly and showed her his canines playfully, as no one was around them.

"Evening it is." She answered and they parted ways, each walking to a different location.

  Frei walked in the direction they had agreed on, the same darkness of a single corridor surrounding him as always. The only novelty was that there was a rail that had been built along the top of the tunnel, serving a purpose that eluded even his imagination. The time when the mine was busy and prosperous had long passed and only rusty bare bones remained from all the dwarven technology that used to be packed into these corridors. It felt bleak and motivated anyone who could to get out of the place.

  However Frei liked that they were practically overlords of the place, the poor people were unable to pose a threat to them and the ever present darkness provided them with a significant advantage. Additionally, they could ignore the diseases that kept being spread by the fungus and insufficient hygiene. Tactically, this place was good, but it did not make the tunnels pleasant.

  After some time the rail above disappeared, probably stolen as everything else of value in the slums and Frei had to head down as usual. This time there was no vertical shaft, but a spiral tunnel that slowly went further to the bottom part of the slums. When he was almost at its end, he noticed that in one of the side tunnels of the spiral corridor, there was some light and motion. It was not usual to stumble upon anyone this far away from the main tunnel and Frei's curiosity had been piqued.

  He carefully stepped closer to the entrance and looked inside into a short mining tunnel that someone had tried to remodel into a room. There was an overturned steel cart serving as a table, probably too heavy to be stolen and a boulder serving as a chair with a piece of wood to make it more comfortable. There was also a blanket lying on the boulder, the dweller had to be using the rock as both a chair and a bed. On the improvised steel table, a small candle was lit that was about to burn out and a person held an old ornate signet in her hands, looking at it as if it was the latest action movie.

"Hello?" Frei asked and startled the woman who frantically hid what she held in her hands into the torn pocket of her clothes.

"What can I do for you, Sir?" The female dwarf looked at him, her black dirty hair framing her round face. She was obviously trying to sound happy to not annoy the unexpected visitor.

"I just want to ask some questions, there had been some murders around here. A nice trinket." Frei decided to use the latest news to get any sort of information without sounding too suspicious. She had surely guessed that he was one of Jarton's men judging by his demeanor and he did not plan to correct her mistake, it would make the conversation easier.

"Yes, it is my father's." She said and Frei noticed that she was quite young, it was not easy to guess the age of a dwarf, but even he was able to see that she was still a teenager. "My father went missing some time ago. There were rumors in the city that missing dwarves could be found around here, so I tried to search for him here in the slums."

"Sorry to be rude, but you do not look like you are searching anymore." Frei stated the obvious.

"No, it was a year ago and I have already realized that I will not find him here, but . ." She paused, fighting back tears that flooded her eyes. "I lost my papers and now I cannot get out."

"Ah." Frei realized that the girl had been stuck here as they were and sat next to her on the spacious, cold boulder.

"What about the murders, have you noticed something?" He wanted to steer the conversation away from her parents, he had a feeling that he would not get out of her another articulated word otherwise.

"I might." She took out the signet again, when she understood that Frei was not going to steal it from her. "There are rumors of a beast stalking the tunnels, it leaves its victims dead with three punctures on their neck. I heard that the wound looks like the monster has three fingers that pierce the neck. Two punctures are smaller and the third is deep, at the back of the poor souls' necks."

"That is scary." Frei frowned.

"It is, but sometimes I wish that the beast came for me, what am I going to do here? There are not many ways to make money." At that moment, the candle burned out and they had been enveloped by darkness. It clearly affected the mood of the girl heavily and she was not longer able to hold back her sobs. "I do not want it anymore! Help me!"

"You, you look different from them, kind and gentle and your clothes are clean." She grabbed one of his hands with both of hers and begged him.

  She pleaded desperately for help, looking at him with puppy eyes and Frei hugged her in his arms. He could guess how hard it was for her to get food, especially when she was originally from the city, stuck here because of her false hopes. Besides, there had to be a reason why she had moved so far away from others and he guessed it was not something pretty.

"Shhh, it is alright. I will." Slowly, his right hand that was hugging her back moved to her neck and the claw on his forefinger extended to its full length. It swiftly pierced the back of her head and was followed by two canines that penetrated the skin of the unfortunate girl. She died in an instant after a quick spasm, the critical damage to her nervous system quickly ending her life. Frei sucked her blood for a while, but he was careful to not drain her completely, to prevent anyone coming here to realize that her blood had been fed on. Slowly placing her body on the hard surface of the boulder, Frei smiled.

"You have suffered enough, sleep well." For a moment, he had a flashback of the cellar of knights' barracks where he had helped ease the suffering of his first victim. He had no choice back then and had no choice later with Valen, but with time he realized that he was doing a service to them. Thanks to him they were able to escape their terrible fates and have a new start as undead. He understood how immense was the value of freedom. From the moment he had been forced to join the Hell's Adventurers' Guild, he was basically a slave. Forced to do missions, manipulated into entering the Fabled Universe and at this moment played with in the direction he had no intention to follow by the very same pupped master, Sammael.

In a way, he envied the girl that she had been able to escape her fate and to have another try, another throw of a dice of fate. He was not that lucky.

"Oh my, I have nearly ended up in self pity. You are a lucky girl, young one." Frei patted the dead body and stood up from the boulder with a sigh.

  Leisurely walking through the rest of the tunnels, he made sure that there were no exits and decided to return to Nitarja earlier, this time not even a stray monster attacked him and he spent his time deep in thoughts until he saw the familiar face at the place he had picked as their meeting place.

"Nitarja, how have you been!" He asked and brushed his fingers against her soft ears.

"Too boring as always. . . ah!" She changed her tone when she noticed a thin bloodstain near the corner of his lip. Immediately, she caught his face with her both hands and kissed him deeply, sucking the last remains of the liquid along with his saliva.

"Fresh and young, you had a dinner without me!" She whispered accusingly when their lips parted.

"It was not intentional, just an accident." Frei answered, dodging her eyes.

"It does not matter, we can go dine together now. I have something special in mind." Frei whispered in return and lightly bit her ear, trying to make up for his solo adventure.

"Special?" Nitarja asked and for a moment, she spaced out.

However, she recovered quickly.

"Special it is, let's go!" She giggled and Frei gripped her hand, leading her away into one of the remote tunnels.

Surrounded by rock and darkness, in her mind she could remember the words of a vampire as if it was only yesterday.

"Isn't it poetic? The walls of this castle bind us together with pain, joy and eternity, forever a place where we can belong to when all others hunt us down. Even though these intense memories may seem disgusting and extreme to you now, situations like these forge bonds that last, not drinking tea. Many vampires tend to find the hard way that even the worst memories are worth remembering when the alternative is simply nothingness."

She smiled and gripped Frei's hand tight, shaking her head lightly to get the other person out of her head.

Deep inside her consciousness, she realized that his little psychological project had succeeded. Although he was not the one who collected its fruits.