Bloop. Bloop. Bloop.

Quinn watched the bubbling paint pots on either side of the mine train. The ethersteel in the cavern caused them to glow, and the variety of minerals, combined with natural processes, caused them to take on a variety of different colors. Reds, greens, blues, whites, oranges. Stalagmites and stalactites framed his vision of the little pools, and in some places the floor dropped away into unknown chasms, places where no human has ever walked.

Bloop.

The mine train chugged along, powered by a tiny steam engine, driven by a single old man in overalls who played the role of both fireman and engineer. Most of the minecarts were filled with supplies, but the forward carts were equipped with leather cushions and polished wooden handrails. It was actually quite a pleasant experience. Not unlike one of the little roller coasters that could be found in the Theocracy, the ones in the parks and piers where the travelling circus would sometimes stop. Just much, much slower.

Clank clank. Clank clank. Clank clank. Bloop.

Through a twisting tunnel, the cave opened up on one side to reveal a broad mine shaft. Dozens of men worked the strange wooden contraptions. Some of the men were bearded and gray, some of them just boys, but all of them were slender and short, with pale faces caked in dirt. A huge pulley creaked, drawing up buckets of water from a glowing pool at the base of the shaft. Silvery fishes (which Maxius insisted were blind) darted about in response to the dripping water.

"We are almost there," Maxius said. "Just around this corner."

Around another bend, and through a short tunnel, the darkness opened up into a vast chamber, framed with jagged stone teeth, filled with flickering firelight. An entire town rested in the depths. Most of the buildings were old wood, three stories tall at most, with verandas and painted facades announcing the names of the various businesses in residence. The glowing white-blue rocks above the town provided a sufficient alternative to the stars visible in the night sky, though the Sister World was missing.

"Father Winter," Quinn said. "Who built this?"

"The network of caverns in this region was carefully constructed by Renna the Scientist. The Bloodraker believed, correctly, that Renna was too dangerous. Renna knew all about this belief, so she developed contingencies in case she did not survive the war."

"But why build cities underground? Why did Renna think this was a valid contingency?"

"We don't exactly know," Maxius admitted.

"Maybe it's because of us," Quinn said. "Me and my brother. Well, not us specifically. Maybe it's because of what we discovered. Flying machines are not actually that difficult to make, and maybe Renna knew this somehow. The Bloodraker was famous for killing witches right? Maybe she got really good at killing them from the sky. And if that's the case, then it would make sense to build a town like this deep underground."

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"Maybe. I had not thought about that, but perhaps my father did. He knows more about the witches than I do. I went to Spire Renna as a child but I never went back. Those airships are too slow."

The main train clanked up to a well-lit wooden platform overlooking the town. Theocracy soldiers in green uniforms waited for them on the platform, and while they were unarmed, there were plenty of rifles and pikes on the racks nearby. When they departed the train, Maxius led Quinn by the arm to the far end of the platform, in the opposite direction to the town. There was a funny little alcove cut into the rock with a single minecart on a narrow track. Two gas lamps with colored globes were mounted above the cart, one green and one indigo, like the lights on a ship.

Inside the cart, there was a leather pack along with a padded plate helmet. Maxius gestured.

"Wear the helmet until you reach the very bottom, and make sure to keep yourself strapped into the harness. Inside the pack, you will find more instruction sheets, cards, and dice. You won't need to use them unless something goes very, very wrong and you need to escape the caverns. When you reach the bottom, the soldiers should ask for your identification. Give them this."

He offered an ivory envelope sealed with dark green wax.

Quinn slipped the thing into his jacket, opened the stubby door to the minecart, and began to fiddle with the plate helmet. Maxius helped him secure the strap, then the other man shoved Quinn into the seat and locked that stubby door in place. Quinn began the task of making sense of the harness straps.

"It may be a little while before I see you again," Maxius said. "For all I know, the Blue Wolf might already be on her way to face my father. I may need to handle a few things on the surface. In the meantime, you will have all the resources you need to recreate your flying machine in the workshops below."

Quinn yanked the last of the straps tight, settled into the cushion, and lowered his head. Then he said, "I'm ready."

Maxius pulled a nearby lever, and with a metallic thud, the tiny minecart began to roll forward into the darkness. The nose of the cart pitched down, and then it rapidly accelerated. The warm oppressive air of the deep caverns began to flow against Quinn's face like a cool breeze. This was refreshing, but it was not quite enough to redeem the experience. The cart jolted side to side on the track, causing Quinn's shoulders to beat against the metal. Soon, he could not gauge how fast he was going, except when he passed the occasional vein of glowing ethersteel ore.

Suddenly there was a bright indigo streak as yet another gas lamp rushed past his vision. He was barreling through a junction in a dark chamber, surrounded on both sides with stalagmites and stalactites, illuminated dull orange by a single lantern inside a booth. Quinn had left the chamber before he had time to react.

It was after he reached the second such chamber, this one with a bright green lamp, that Quinn decided: I am going to be ready next time. Indeed, when he arrived at the third junction he was able to take in the whole scene. There was a man in the booth holding a lever and some cards. The junction split two ways and the light was indigo. Quinn reasoned that if the light was green, the track would be switched to the opposite junction.

He was, he realized, taking a completely random path down through the mine shaft.

Quinn counted no less than seven random junctions, some green and some indigo. At the end the minecart caught a rotating chain and rapidly decelerated before crashing into a cushioned barrier. Seven, with a junction each time. That would be... one hundred and twenty eight possible outcomes. In other words, there was a less than one percent chance that Maxius knew exactly where Quinn had gone. If the oculomancers got to Maxius, he would not be able to tell them where Quinn was. Genius!

He clambered out of the little minecart, and then went off in search of someone who could help find his new workshop.