Quinn was not an expert in geology. However, even he knew that rocks were not supposed to be glowing blue.

Maxius the Younger led Quinn through an endless maze of caverns. Maxius and his servants had all originally held torches, however after some time the glowing blue walls of the twisting caverns made them irrelevant. Down they went into the glowing darkness. Until the darkness opened up into vast chambers, filled with artificial light. An entire city rested in the depths. Many of the buildings were shaped like pyramids, dice resting on one corner, half the building carved down into the rock, the other half reaching up in to the empty space of the cave. This gave Quinn the impression of a sawtooth skyline. The blue glow of the rock above replaced the stars and the galaxies of the night sky, though the Sister World was missing.

"I see your surprise," Maxius said. "The network of caverns below this region was carefully constructed by my ancestor, Renna the Scientist. She understood the mind of Annatiki Marunavi. Renna was too dangerous, and had no hope of surviving the war. Annatiki would betray any agreements she made, and murder Renna. Which she did. Thus, Renna prepared humanity for a future in which fighter jets would rain down missiles from the sky, killing witches as they gained their powers. This cavern system was meant to protect against that scenario.

Maxius feared that the Charlatan King had foreseen this scenario as well, and prepared Annatiki against it. As Quinn learned more about this place, he began to understand why.

Maxius allowed Quinn to see a very rare, and possibly inaccurate map of the Underground. Thousands of miles of underground tunnels, built in ancient times by Renna the Scientist, as a hedge against Annatiki winning the war. There were at least twelve fully self-sufficient cities built underground. Apparently, Renna had experience building self-sufficient cities, as Maxius confirmed, in private, the rumor that was being spread by the Blue Wolf of Nydia. Renna had built one hundred such cities in her attempt to understand religion better.

There may have been more cities as well. Maxius would not say.

Maxius led Quinn to a mine cart. The mine cart had a rocket strapped to the back. It looked unsafe, in Quinn's estimation, but Maxius was absolutely certain that they were both being trailed by something very dangerous, and insisted that Quinn strap himself into the cart. Quinn did so, and then the cart literally rocketed down the track into the darkness.

In the pale blue light of the cave, Quinn counted no less than seven junctions that seemed to move back and forth randomly. At the end the mine cart slammed into a steel barrier by the side of a body of water. Across the water, many young couples kissed each other and looked up with dreamy eyes at the glowing roof of the caves. Seven, with a junction each time. That would be... one hundred and twenty eight possible outcomes. These people from the Theocracy were innate gamblers. Maxius had sent Quinn somewhere, and there was less than a percent chance that he knew exactly where. Genius. If the oculomancers got to him, he would not be able to tell them where Quinn was.

He was accosted by guards but Quinn showed them a letter from Maxius. Then, they covered his face, tied him up, and threw him into a cart. Then he ended up in another mine cart. He counted no less than six junctions. That would be... eight thousand one hundred and ninety two possible locations. At that point Quinn was certain that Renna was just paranoid.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Some guards marched him for a few hours through the tunnels after that. Finally, Quinn arrived at a large room filled with schematics on wooden writing boards. Quinn immediately recognized what was on those schematics. Designs for flying machines.

"Quinn!" A voice called out. It was a young man in expensive-looking black and gold robes. "Quinn, brother of Seth, the Flying Man, is that you?!" He said.

"It is I," Quinn admitted. "To whom do I have the honor of speaking?"

"I am The Messiah," The Messiah said. Quinn was dumbfounded.

"Great Messiah," a guard said. "You should never be in the same room as this one, you know that you are being hunted!"

"What is the probability that the Ghost would end in the same place as both of us?" The Messiah asked.

"Two million, ninety seven thousand, one hundred and fifty two." A voice droned on behind the Messiah.

"Those are some good odds!" The Messiah said. "Come, Quinn, let us speak for a while. I will explain everything."

The Messiah led Quinn through the caves to an area that dripped with wealth. It even had rugs and banners hanging on the walls.

"Quinn," The Messiah said. "I am a witch, I developed my powers down here, in these caves, where the witches cannot kill me with their fighter jets."

Then the room shook slightly, as if there was a minor earthquake.

"That," The Messiah said. "Was probably a missile, fired from one of their fighter jets. Which means that I probably don't have much time left."

Quinn had many questions, but he realized that there was one that was obviously more important than the rest. "Why do you think that you don't have much time left?" Quinn asked.

"Because the Ghost will kill me soon," The Messiah explained. Then he grabbed a leather-bound book and handed it to Quinn. "Don't worry about me, the Primarch has already said that my soul will go to Paradise immediately, it is guaranteed. This life, is just part of the Lawgiver's plan. Anyway, take a look inside the book."

Quinn did so. It was incomprehensible nonsense.

"That book is the sum of the knowledge that witches down here have been able to accumulate. It took seventeen witches to make that book, and hundreds of copies exist hidden all throughout these caves. It's a guide, meant to educate the True Messiah when they manifest. Each Messiah adds a little to the book, until the True Messiah will be born, and the Lawgiver will manifest his judgement against The Witches of The Spires."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," Quinn said. "However, what the hell is a Ghost?"

"All the Messiahs die," The Messiah said. "They have heart attacks, a few days after they manifest their powers. It's the Ghost of the Bloodraker. She has sent a Ghost to delay the coming of the True Messiah!"

"So, you are saying," Quinn said. "That the Messiahs record their learnings about how to use their witch powers in that book, and then after a few days the Ghost of the Bloodraker kills them, and you are all just waiting for a Messiah to be born that learns from the book fast enough to use their powers to survive long enough to become the True Messiah?"

"Essentially," The Messiah said. "Also, we have lots of pretty girls that we can sleep with, so it's not as bad as that."

Quinn understood completely.

"Wait!" Quinn said suddenly. "You have this completely wrong, you should not be down here in these caves. Your enemy already knows how to kill you, why not just..."

"Stop!" The Messiah said. "I am doomed, but the next Messiah will have a few days. If you have an idea, tell it to him or her."

Quinn understood once again. The man was right, if he was right.

Guards came and took Quinn away. They led him through the tunnels for several days, to a second workshop where the engineers were designing flying machines. Then they put him to work. And he was happy, for a time. Then he heard that the Messiah had suffered a heart attack.