Egosum looked down into the abyss, the black staring right back.

“So, I just hold onto you by the hips, and you will kick us in the right direction?”

He went over the plan once more, much to the frog's annoyance.

“For the fiftieth time, yes. I swear, you troglodytes are so slow at times.”

He squeezed the frog slightly, putting just enough pressure to be uncomfortable.

“Sorry, sorry.” He squeaked out an apology and whispered a final insult before looking into the abyssal pool. “Let’s get a move on, we are late as is and the lookouts won’t be happy.

“The lookouts for what? I thought only you guys can traverse it.” Tecolotl glared at him.

“We do it the best, but sometimes things happen. Stop questioning me! Hold on tight.” He pushed against the ground and dove into the water.

Egosum couldn’t see a single thing around them. It was devoid of light and Qi to the extreme.

He could feel his energy leaching into it just like before. He tightened his control and felt his guide kicking forward.

The journey lasted for what felt like an eternity in the absolute lack of stimuli that was the abyss.

He swore at several points that he could feel something just out of view, only for the next kick from Tenocotl to send them out of the horror’s reach.

He made a conscious effort to not break the poor frog’s spine during the tensest moments.

Without any prior warning, the complete blackness completely fell away.

The frog pulled himself up the edge and onto the stone floor.

“Get off of me already!”

The shout echoed through the cave.

Egosum slowly unfurled his locked arms once he felt the last bit of water fall from his feet.

His worry about falling with a guide sat high amongst his list of concerns.

“Well, we are here and fashionably late at that. I didn’t expect you to add that much drag. Fat ass.”

He brushed the insult off and looked around.

The floor was polished flat and reflected green light from the ceiling.

The walls had complicated etchings that looked impossible to be done by hand.

They depicted great wars against every race imaginable ranging from dragons to other amphibians.

The ceiling was covered in a luminescent moss that cast magnificent shadows across the carvings.

It was truly awe inspiring everywhere he looked.

It was clearly the work of an advanced society.

“Let’s get going, the watchmen are gonna be pissed we are so late.”

Tecolotl hopped forward through the halls with Egosum trailing close behind.

The carvings followed them along, depicting increasingly brutal and one-sided fights.

The defenders dwindled in number until it was just a few of the same individuals fighting against an onslaught of enemies.

He turned forwards and saw the first hint of amphibious life.

A large gate blocked the path forward with several abyssal frogs watching over the path.

“Now stay close to me. They will be really skittish. Don’t say a word and don’t make a move. I am serious.” Tecolotl turned to him with the most serious gaze he had seen from the creature.

“Alright, but what if they try to ask me something.”

The frog scoffed in his face before continuing forward.

“That won’t happen.”

Egosum fell silent as he followed him towards the blockade.

The frogs watching over the pass all visibly tensed at the sight of the new comings before noticing the anomaly.

A creature that wasn’t an abyssal toad.

Half of them immediately ducked out of sight while the others crouched just deep enough to where they could still see his approach.

“Ho! I am here for the meeting.” Tecolotl initiated contact only for the watchers to stay silent. “I said I am here for the meeting. The traditions state that all will be given passage to attend.”

His insistence finally earned him a response.

“What…what is that other thing?” Its voice quivered in fear.

Egosum looked to his companion in doubt.

‘These are watchmen.’

Tecolotl sighed.

Stolen novel; please report.

“He is a friend of the abyssal frogs. He is here on a journey to find one our kind and a personal friend of his.”

Egsum could hear a cacophony of noise erupting behind the gate.

His hearing sharpened as he channeled Qi through his body, picking up the end of a hurried conversation.

“-run for our lives!”

“He might kill us!”

“-so fucked!”

“-commit suicide?”

They all held surprising levels of resignation and terror that Egosm hardly believed.

“Hey, are you actually really brave for your species or something? I could have sworn one of them considered suicide.”

Tecolotl cracked a small smile.

“I might be a little above average. The watchmen are certainly some of the worse though. As soon as you put a bunch of us in a group, we start feeling helpless. Why stand out and do something when there are dozens or hundreds around that could do the same thing?”

Egosum turned to the frog, ignoring the quiet wall.

“Nothing would get done then. No brave heroes or people to stand up for themselves.”

The frog nodded along.

“Damn. You guys kind of suck.” The deadpan delivery earned him a scowl.

“We weren’t always like this. We used to be warriors specializing in close quarters combat. Whirling, teleporting, leaping storms of blades ready to cut our enemies down. That’s what all of these stories are about.”

He gestures around him to the walls covered in the carvings of the past.

The gate before them cracked just rough for one of the frogs to peep out.

“You are vouching for him then, scarred one?” Tecolotl twitched at the insult before agreeing.

The gate opened wider, and his guide led him through.

Egosum hopped after him and took in the sights behind the wall. Only a fraction of the watchmen were visible and the ones that were only obvious thanks to their mana signatures giving them away.

The tunnel went on for what felt like hours as they finally broke into a massive cavern.

“This place is all below the swamp?” Egosum craned his neck to take everything in.

Canals filled the paths between buildings. The light sources were bundles of moss that hung from the ceiling high above. Every path led to the very middle of the room where the city’s centerpiece sat.

A massive palace illuminated by moss inlays across its surface.

It looked like a thing straight out of his wildest imaginations.

“Pretty awesome right? It’s the centerpiece of our civilization, created by our ancestors as the unbreakable heart of our people. It doesn’t matter which one of us you ask, we all feel an inexplicable connection to this place.”

Egosum could hear the pride in his voice.

“Yeah, it is impressive. Something for me to shoot towards I guess.”

Tecolotl nodded his head for him to follow and leapt into the closest canal.

The water carried them through the city at a steady pace while allowing them to take in the sights.

Every wall was adorned with different stories from the past. Some of conflicts and others of living life.

It was inspiring.

Despite the sprawling nature of everything around, it became clear to him that it was entirely devoid of life.

It wasn’t just empty due to the meeting. He could see the layers of filth covering every surface he passed. The paths were covered in dust and dead moss while the houses were dark husks of what they could have been.

The end of the journey came swiftly as they reacheda series of grates that took the water from the canal till there wasn’t enough to carry them any father.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” He turned to the frog in question.

“I feel like you will no matter what so go ahead.” He could hear the annoyance in his tone. It was clear to him that he was getting increasingly nervous as they grew closer to the gathering.

“Why don’t people live here if it is the center of your civilization.”

Tecolotl threw his head in Egosum's direction before starting with something hidden behind his gaze.

“How do you…hmmmm. Let's head to the meeting while we talk. Well, you are partially right. Only one person lives in this city full time. The duke himself. Ek Bahlam . He is the only one that he permits to stay within the city limits. Us frogs only get to come here once every other year. He says it dirties the air when too many of us are around for too long.”

The toad turned from the frog and back towards the palace. It was fantastic like he first thought, but it took on a much sadder tone as he came to understand more of its history.

“Who is he to rule over your whole race and tell you you can’t return to your ancestral grounds?”

A tinge of embarrassment seemed to overtake him as he looked towards his webbed feet.

“He is the only other creature that can reliably traverse the abyss that actually has a modicum of intelligence.”

“He isn’t even one of your people?!” Egosum nearly shouted in surprise. The embarrassment made much more sense.

Tecolotl nodded.

“Then why don’t you guys get rid of him?”

The frog scoffed.

“Us and what army? You saw the watchmen. They were about to kill themselves rather than fight. I would rather run. My people view things much differently than we used to. Our populations number in the millions before the other races came against us. Now we are in the thousands.”

“The other gods don’t want to see an amphibian succeed. Preach.”

Tecolotl gave him a strange look before continuing.

“We became… cowards. Out of necessity if you ask any of us. Ek Bahlam saw an opportunity in our weakness and took over. Now he lives here while hunting the abyss. It was a concession we made in return for maintaining the lights and guaranteed safety.”

They finally made it to a large wall, devoid of any cracks or handles.

“How do we get in?”

The frog sighed before placing his hands on the surface.

It quickly deformed under his influence.

Egosum’s mana sight explored the strange sight and saw the matter disappear from the material plane despite it looking unchanged to his normal vision.

“Head on through.”

He hopped in with Tecolotl hot on his trail. The sounds of conversation and laughter in the distance filled the air.

A fait glow from around the corner let him know the source.

“Now let me do the introductions. They won’t be as freaked out since they should have already gotten word but don’t expect a warm welcoming.”

Egosum listened intently as they turned down the hall and into a wide-open room

The sight that welcomed them was unbearably uncomfortable.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned in their direction, wide as saucers. The conversations immediately died to silence

Egosum looked to his guide that was equally uncomfortable.

He nudged him with his leg, startling him from the frozen state of fear.

“I, uh. Well, I would to… This is Egosum. A friend of our people. As gentle as they come. Wouldn’t hurt a morsel.”

A few of the eyes turned away to speak to their friend in hushed tones.

“Tad bit ugly, isn’t it?”

“And he is with a scarred one.”

“Guess he can’t be too dangerous, but its best to avoid him.”

The reaction was exactly as he predicted.

‘This is going to be hard.’

He followed Tecolotl’s lead and hopped after the smaller creature.

A wide birth formed around them as they moved through. That was when Egosum saw it.

At the very fringes of the room, he spotted some anomalies.

Where most openly gawked or avoided looking in their direction entirely, a few took sneaking gazes without that same hint of terror behind their eyes.

‘Those are probably my only bet.’