“Is it passing, do you think?” Eldan awoke to Cale’s voice, finding himself slumped on her lap as she leaned over him, looking at something. His head was throbbing, pulse pounding behind his eyes. Cale shook his shoulder gently. “Look, I think it’s almost over.” She pointed somewhere past his line of sight.

Eldan pushed himself into a sitting position, his arms wobbling. He took in the tunnel, the water pooled at his feet, and awareness slowly came back to him. He leaned forward to look where Cale was insistently pointing, seeing rain falling from a light grey sky outside the heavy, black iron gate at the tunnel mouth.

“See? The wind let up and it’s just a rain shower now. We should be able to get out of here soon.” Sure enough, as the cobwebs began to clear Eldan saw that the city was coming to life. The huge waterspouts he vaguely remembered falling from the parapets had slowed to a trickle, and people were dashing about in the streets, going about their business in the steady rain. He began piecing together the day’s events that had led them to where they sat, from his mother gifting him his sword to the crushed body that lay behind them in the tunnel.

“What happened? How did I fall asleep?” He fought through memories that couldn’t have happened, a nightmare of pressure and absence itching at his mind, insisting that something vital and terrible had been lost.

“We both did, I suppose it’s been a long day. I just woke up and you were flopped on top of me like a flour sack. You didn’t wake up even when I had to move you around to sit back up.” Cale elbowed him lightly in the ribs, smiling.

A familiar grinding and screeching noise started, and Cale jumped to her feet. “Finally! Come on, let’s wait by the gate and go under as soon as it’s high enough.” She stepped out of the alcove to the tunnel floor with a small splash, the water now only skimming the floor’s surface. Eldan stood and stepped down beside her, looking uneasily back down the tunnel to where the body lay.

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As the gate rose the rain continued to slacken until it was a bare sprinkle, the sky slowly clearing to show cracks of blue peeking through the pale gray. They ducked under the gate when the bottom reached their waists, finally stepping onto the streets of Servandor. Eldan was unnerved to see Cale nearly dancing with excitement, grabbing his hand to pull him along toward the Court. He dug in his heels, looking at her with concern. “We can’t just leave that person lying in the tunnel. We have to tell the guards.”

Cale looked at him in confusion. “What person? What are you talking about?”

Eldan suddenly felt very cold. “The person who was trampled. We saw the body, it was the entire reason we ended up trapped when the gates closed.” He gestured back at the tunnel helplessly.

Cale’s face clouded. “No, that’s not what happened. We just didn’t make it in time, there was no body. I would remember something like that.” She bit her lip, looking like she was trying to piece something together that wouldn’t quite fit.

The gates behind them were nearly completely raised now, and Eldan looked back to see a group of people emerging from the tunnel. He drew in a breath, expecting them to raise an alarm, or worse, to carry the broken body with them. Instead, they filed into the city, talking animatedly amongst themselves, and parted to pass around Cale and Eldan, who were standing in the middle of the street.

“See? Nothing is in the tunnel.” Cale squeezed his arm, speaking gently. “You must have had bad dreams, I’m sorry. But we need to go, we were in there a long time.” Eldan took one long, last look back at the tunnel and then nodded, following Cale into the city.

They made fast progress through the streets in the aftermath of the storm. While shops and taverns were open and bustling, most of the street vendors had packed up for the day when the storm rolled in, creating easy passage. Eldan craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the huge fountain at the city center, seeing the sprays of water shooting into the sky and just able to make out the top of the enormous bronze sculpture at the center. The sculpture, he knew, depicted the first Keepers, holding the tools of their trades aloft beneath a giant tome, representing their shared knowledge. Cale charged relentlessly foreword, heedless of his sightseeing, heading directly for the massive, limestone building that was the Court of Keepers.